Covering sports, there are some things I've come to expect. I've seen horrific injuries. I've seen them shaken off, and I've seen them last. One thing I had not seen, and wasn't ready to see, was the death of a player.
During Saturday night's Mason-Dixon Football League season opener, I saw a New Bern Grizzlies player drop to his knees, then to his back and get taken away in an ambulance. I had to do my job, and what I did over the next few hours was fueled by adrenaline and instincts.
I don't know if I crossed any journalistic lines, but I accompanied the head coach and the family to the emergency room. The family was given a special waiting area to occupy. Looking back, it was probably an area they save for the most severe cases. I was sitting alone when I heard the news given to the Grizzlies' player's mother. There's no sound like that of a mother when she's heard her baby has died. I can't tell how I feel about it. It's either unnatural or as natural as it can get. It's not something any mother is supposed to go through. The younger generation is supposed to outlive its elders. But it doesn't always work like that. I believe that when a mother learns that her child has died, it may be nature totally taking over for her to make that noise. I've heard people pretend to make that noise on TV and in movies ... but it can't come close.
I'll never forget the sound I heard last night. I'll never forget hearing it and dropping my head into my hands. I never met Takirra Koonce, the 28-year-old football player who died that night, but I'll never forget him.
I'll have more on my reaction to this ... I have more reflecting to do.
During Saturday night's Mason-Dixon Football League season opener, I saw a New Bern Grizzlies player drop to his knees, then to his back and get taken away in an ambulance. I had to do my job, and what I did over the next few hours was fueled by adrenaline and instincts.
I don't know if I crossed any journalistic lines, but I accompanied the head coach and the family to the emergency room. The family was given a special waiting area to occupy. Looking back, it was probably an area they save for the most severe cases. I was sitting alone when I heard the news given to the Grizzlies' player's mother. There's no sound like that of a mother when she's heard her baby has died. I can't tell how I feel about it. It's either unnatural or as natural as it can get. It's not something any mother is supposed to go through. The younger generation is supposed to outlive its elders. But it doesn't always work like that. I believe that when a mother learns that her child has died, it may be nature totally taking over for her to make that noise. I've heard people pretend to make that noise on TV and in movies ... but it can't come close.
I'll never forget the sound I heard last night. I'll never forget hearing it and dropping my head into my hands. I never met Takirra Koonce, the 28-year-old football player who died that night, but I'll never forget him.
I'll have more on my reaction to this ... I have more reflecting to do.
5 comments:
Hello John,
Your account of this unnatural occurance is very accurate. My own son, Anthony Bates, died almost 7 years ago after weight training practice at Kansas State University. Takirra Koonce's mother is like me, in a group that no one wants to be a member. As I have come to learn about heart issues and young athletes dying, it is not an uncommon occurance. According to the CDC & other medical research in this country we loose over 7,000 to approximately 14,000 young people each year to Sudden Cardiac Arrest. Only a few hundred happen to be athletes. Our country is in medical crisis and we need your help as a journalist to uncover this delema. Our youth are the future and we should do everything in our power as a nation and as parents to protect them from early death.
See more information about prevention and ways to protect our children by logging onto www.AnthonyBates.org and/or www.ParentHeartWatch.org.
Sincerely,
Sharon Bates
Anthony's Mom
Hi John,
When reading the account of your experience you had last night it brought back the morning of 2001 when I lost my 20 year old son to a Sudden Cardiac Arrest. As you stated the younger generation is supposed to outlive their elders. Unfortunately, there are more young people than most know who are dying from Sudden Cardiac Arrests. Although Takirra's cause of death has not been determined yet it sounds all too familiar. A seemingly healthy young person falls over and it is later discovered they had an undiagnosed heart problem. We really need to tackle this issue and spread the awareness. Won't you please help us to do this and save lives?
Sincerely,
Cris Over - Nicks mom
www.ourbelovednick.com
www.ParentHeartWatch.org
Hello John,
How right you are. I lost my wonderful adorable son Darius in 2005. I know that howl, I still hear it coming from somewhere deep inside when I walk alone on the beach, I do not recognise it as my own voice, as you say it is undescribable. We need you journalists to work with us. Here in Ireland we are getting great support from your colleagues and they have played a vital role in keeping this in the public arena and waking the professionals and the government up to work with us. We still have a long way to go as every week more mothers howl, unsuspecting children die ( Here in Ireland, a population of 4 million, two per week under the age of 35.) It must stop, it is the most horrendous tragedy. These are good kids, loved and cared for by their families,. Very often high achievers and as you will come to learn outstanding , kind wonderful young people.
Please visit our website www.scdyoung.ie where you will learn more and also see my wonderful boy.
Warm Regards from accross the ocean,
Mary Vasseghi
John, In reading your article, it brought back that day, and that wailing sound from me of the day I heard by telephone 3 years ago that my 24 year old son had collapsed and died during a triathlon (from undiagnosed cardiac congenital defect). There is no tragedy greater than losing our children. David lived a fantastic life albeit way too short. You may read about him on parenheartwatch.org; David Norell, from Idaho. Thank you. Bereaved Mom forever, Rae Ann Norell
Hi John,
Your account of the sudden collapse and death of this young athlete brought back such vidid memories of my 911 call in Aug of 1997 when I found my precious 22 year old daughter, Emilie Elizabeth, dead in her bed of sudden cardiac arrest. I can remember how I kept saying, "Oh, My God" and calling again and again for God to hear my plea. After a totally negative autopsy and toxicology, we later learned through blood tests of living family members that our daughter had died of Long QT Syndrome. You can go to www.longqt.org or www.qtdrugs.org to learn all about it. The diagnosis is being missed on a regular basis in many families. When a child or young person "faints" a Dr. seems to always go to testing for a Neurological problem like seizures, never dreaming that it is actually cardiac in nature.
Because sudden cardiac arrest keeps happening over and over again to young people and children, that's why I also belong to a group called Parent Heart Watch. You can go to www.parentheartwatch.org to learn all about what we are trying to accomplish. We would like to see defibrillators in all the schools in the U.S., cardiac screenings of children and young adults, and CPR--AED training for all graduating seniors in high school. Once we raise the awareness of how often this happens, parents will be begging for their schools to be equipped with AEDs and have trained "emergency teams" who are trained in the use of AEDs and know how to do CPR.
We can spend $50 on a video game for our kids--but don't see the importance of checking our children for cardiac problems.
I would never want any parent to live through the absolute nightmare of losing a child.
Sincerely,
Christine Puricelli
Emilie's Mom Now and Forever
Chandler, AZ
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