HealthTree Blog

Many people still remember what they were doing the day that Hank Gathers collapsed on the court of a hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. This star basketball player wasn’t the typical idea of someone would suffer from a heart disorder. He was big, strong and athletic. No one would have ever thought that one day as he was showing the world his amazing skills that it would be the last time that he did.

Heart Complications Before Hank Gathers Death

During a UC-Santa Barbara game, Hank Gathers attempted a free throw but collapsed. Doctors diagnosed him with an abnormal heartbeat and prescribed beta-blockers for it. He missed two games after the diagnosis and returned to play against Niagara on December 30^th.

Then the unexpected happened, Hank Gathers dunks an alley-oop pass, starts running up the court and then collapses  to the floor to never get up again. He’s rushed to the hospital and was pronounced dead about an hour later. An autopsy documents his cause of death as a heart-muscle disorder called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy and Athletes

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is a well-known condition for healthy athletes. It’s a heart muscle growth which makes it difficult for blood to pass as readily and causes irregular heartbeats. Beta-blockers are prescribed to individuals with this genetic disorder but the recommendation to avoid strenuous exercises is also given.

The issue is that many athletes don’t want to hear that their career may have ended because of this heart complication. Thus, they continue to compete putting their lives at risk. It’s possible that Hank never knew how severe his heart disorder was and figured that the beta blockers would do enough to keep him alive and well on the court. Unfortunately, this was not the case, and it’s a prime example of how doctors need to explore all possibilities when it comes to heart problems in athletes and give solid recommendations of what they can and cannot do and athletes need to take them seriously.

Photo:j9sk9s