For student athletes, one simple heart screening could be a life saver. It usually costs hundreds of dollars, but this weekend, it is free.
Almost four years ago to the day, a then, 14-year-old Joseph Collins of Georgetown experienced a life changing moment. He is one of the lucky few because when most people fall victim to Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy, they also fall down dead.
Now 18, Collins fashions a pretty good golf swing, but it doesn't get his heart racing like baseball used to. Four years ago, Collins, then a soon-to-be freshman at Georgetown High School, felt he had the stuff to earn a college scholarship. But while at practice the night before he and his team were to leave for the National World Series in Florida, Joseph was scratched from the lineup for good.
"We were just warming up by running sprints, and they saw me fall and (my coaches) thought I hurt my leg or something, but then they noticed that I wasn't breathing," said Collins.
He was suffering from Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy or HCM, a thickening of the heart wall that makes it difficult for the blood to leave the heart through the aortic valve. It is almost always fatal.
"When I got to the hospital, the paramedics were there and they greeted me and told me to expect the worst, that my son probably would not survive," said Eva Collins, Joseph's mother.
Joseph did survive, largely because one of his baseball coaches performed CPR until paramedics arrived.
"Joseph's septum is abnormally thickened," said Dr. Suzanne Wetherold, a doctor of cardiology at the Heart Hospital of Austin.
On Wednesday, Wetherold and ultra sound technician Kevin Deweese performed a heart screening on Joseph that he will require every year for the rest of his life. It is a life with no more baseball or football, but at least he has golf and the time to encourage teens to take advantage of this weekend's free screening at the Heart Hospital of Austin.
"Just out of nowhere, you didn't think it would ever happen, and in just an instant your whole life just changes," said Collins.
About the screenings
The free screenings are Saturday from 8:00 a-m to noon -- at the Heart Hospital of Austin. There's no charge, but a $25 contribution is suggested. Student athletes ages 14-18 are eligible. They must have a waiver signed by their parent which can be found here.
Registration will be held in the café of Heart Hospital of Austin, 3801 N. Lamar Blvd., Austin, TX 78756.
For more information call (512) 340-7313.
