This weekend was our Pacific Masters Championships. It was a close battle between WCM and USF and I don't know who won at this very moment. I don't care.
You see, I left right before the 1000 today (the last event) right after the last relays. I watched some great swims today. Amazing swims. My friend Brendon swam a 2:03 200 fly and really hit his taper (as he's not going to Nationals)- we were teasing about how he does really well the week after a tapered meet. He seemed to finally figure it out this time.
My friend Stephen called me tonight and told me that Brendon also had a great 1000, was warming down, had a heart attack and died. He was 35. I was stunned. I've been crying since then trying to make sense of it all. It doesn't make sense.
I called some other friends and no one else can believe it either. Suddenly, the meet doesn't matter, swimming doesn't matter, what matters is that we lost a really great guy today. He was always so happy, funny, and loved to tell jokes. He was really good natured and fun to be around. I will miss him terribly.
Karen, I had an idea for you while riding the train to work this morning. T-shirts. Very simple and very easy. Something classy ... I'm trying to think of ways for it to be personal too. Perhaps his name Brandon _________ on the front and on the back something along the lines of "Don't cry because it's over smile because it happened." OR have becaue he gave it all he had ...
I don't know. I'm sure since you knew him you can come up with something better. But I think shirts would be great, and you can wear them to all your meets as a memorial. Just a thought.
Heather,
A nice idea ... indeed.
Here's another idea for Karen. I am sure that we remember September 11, 2001 and the loss of many lives, especially at the World Trade Towers. USMS sadly lost two of its own, Andrew Fisher and Doug Irgang, who both happened to be in each of the towers at the time of the shameless attack. They both were members of NYC's Asphalt Green Masters team. Ever since that terrible day, there has been a memorial swim-a-thon (or similar event) at the New York Asphalt Green facility. The proceeds are, I think, for scholarships for victim's children.
Perhaps this might give Karen and Pacific Masters some food for thought. My own team, along with anyone else who cared to participate, recently did a swim-a-thon for organ donors.
Mark
The autopsy report suggests that the observed enlarged heart is symptomatic of a diseased heart. But as we know, an enlarged heart is also typical of athletes; in this case an enlarged heart means nothing, and gets us no closer to what actually happened to Brendon.
Of course, the coronor gets lots of dead people with truly diseased enlarged hearts, so that is what is observed without looking at the situation any more closely.
It should be possible to distinguish a healthy large heart from an unhealthy large heart, both in the cadaver and in a 'healthy' individual, and it is particularly important to tell the difference in older populations, like USMS swimmers.
If the USMS Memorial Fund, recommended by Bill, supports research on subjects like this, it is well worth the money and a good memorial for Brendon Wen.
Craig,
Would a routine physical have picked this up, atherosclerosis (if it was the case)? Or is that the one where you would need more specialized testing like an EKG?
Originally posted by gull80
What I was referring to was a lethal arrhythmia resulting in sudden cardiac death, not palpitations which are fairly common and often benign.
OK! I'm a little scared now! How can you tell the difference between the benign palpitations and the lethal arrhythmias? I've been having an irregular heartbeat for over a year now. I've told my Dr. and he said not to worry. When I have it , my heart almost stops for a few seconds, then feels like its doing flipturns, then races for a few seconds and settles into a normal beat. Is this ok?
Sorry...I don't mean to hijack the thread but this got my attention!!:confused:
The coroner's report, or at least what was reported in the paper, isn't very informative. It doesn't state whether he suffered a myocardial infarction (heart attack) but does suggest that he had coronary artery disease (atherosclerosis). If so, I suspect he had an arrhythmia (abnormal heart rhythm) leading to cardiac arrest.
Originally posted by Slimy
This has happened to me too, and it turned out to be too much caffeine.
Good point. That is what my Dr. told me it could be. I cut down on caffeine and I still have it! The only caffeine I have is my 1-2 cups of coffee in the morning. The irregular heartbeat tends to happen at night and when I'm tired.
Karen,
I'm sorry for hijacking this thread!
I'm thinking about you, your teammates and Brendon's family. I'm proud of you for getting back to the pool. Swimming is good for the soul! Take care.
I could be wrong, but I THINK, abnormal heart beats SHOULD be picked up in a physical. Also generally they aren't a big deal. They should be monitored, but I think that generally they aren't even treated, however I'm not sure what level of intensity workouts should be done. Again, that is just my best guess.
Additionally, it reminds me a bit of John Ritter, whose widow now has a lawsuit against the doctor ...
Usually when someone that young in that good of shape dies there was a pre-exisiting condition (duh). Usually it should have been caught.
