Less than an hour after news broke that Bronny James, the 18-year-old son of NBA star LeBron James, had suffered a cardiac arrest during a practice at USC, Damar Hamlin chimed in with a tweet wishing James and his family well.
Hamlin, of course, could relate. In January, the Buffalo Bills safety went into cardiac arrest himself after a routine tackle during a game against the Cincinnati Bengals.
“Prayers to Bronny & The James family,” Hamlin tweeted. “Here for you guys just like you have been for me my entire process.”
If the younger James is eventually cleared for a return to action on the basketball court, Hamlin could serve as inspiration.
Months after his incident in Cincinnati, Hamlin took to the field Wednesday for his first training camp practice with the Bills. Doctors have OK’ed the 25-year-old safety’s bid to resume his football career and Hamlin is determined to make a comeback.
It may be too soon to know whether James can follow a similar path. A statement from the James’ family said Tuesday that the incoming USC freshman was out of the ICU and in stable condition. The severity of James’ cardiac event — or what caused it — is still unknown.
But there are several well-known examples of athletes who have actually returned after suffering cardiac arrest — including, coincidentally, one by James’ teammate at USC. Last January, Trojans forward Vincent Iwuchukwu made his return to the court after collapsing and suffering a cardiac arrest six months earlier. The 7-foot freshman went on to play in 14 games.
In soccer, Christian Eriksen returned to the pitch nearly a year after collapsing in a game against Finland. In June 2021, the Danish soccer player suffered cardiac arrest for a few minutes and needed CPR on the pitch. He played well enough to play in the World Cup this last year.
Former St. Louis Blues star Chris Pronger, like Hamlin, collapsed after he was struck in the chest — taking a slapshot, in this case, from Detroit defenseman Dmitri Mironov in 1998. Pronger, however, played just two days later.
With Eriksen and Iwuchukwu, both athletes underwent surgery to install an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD). The device allows doctors to monitor a heart rate at all times, and in case of another cardiac event, the ICD activates to provide a jolt to the heart.
Dr. Ernst von Schwarz, a cardiologist in Los Angeles, said in an interview that the path for James will depend on the underlying condition that caused the heart attack. If James has a congenital condition such as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), von Schwarz said, then the general recommendation would be to stay away from “extreme physical activity” like competitive sports. But there are other conditions, those that don’t deal directly with the heart but can cause cardiac arrest, that can be managed with medication and increase the likelihood that a return is possible.
“It purely depends on the underlying condition,” von Schwarz said.
In any event, von Schwarz said the response time to a cardiac arrest is critical. At USC, according to the Los Angeles Times, three athletic trainers immediately began administering CPR on Iwuchukwu while another retrieved an automated external defibrillator. When the AED was deployed, Iwuchukwu “instantly regained consciousness” and let out a “loud wail,” the paper reported. He reportedly called his mother on the ride over to the hospital.
“Time is money, time is life,” von Schwarz said.
The worst-case scenario, of course, is that James could have died. In 1990, Hank Gathers collapsed during a Loyola Marymount game against Portland. He stopped breathing on the court and was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital shortly after. Gathers had been previously diagnosed with an abnormal heartbeat.
Before James’ incident, the 18-year-old had become one of the more famous high school recruits in the nation. Named a McDonald’s All-American as a senior, the four-star guard committed to play for Andy Enfield at USC. And for years, his father, LeBron James, had talked openly about his dream to play in the NBA with his son — who draft analysts projected as a first-round pick.
“I would love to do the whole Ken Griffey Sr. and Jr. thing,” LeBron James told ESPN earlier this year. “That would be ideal for sure.”
Who knows if that will still happen. But if it does, James’ most relevant parallel may be Keyontae Johnson. In December 2020, the then-Florida star went into cardiac arrest coming out of a timeout.
Not only did he eventually resume his college career at Kansas State last fall — the Oklahoma City Thunder drafted Johnson in the second round in June.
• Matthew Paras can be reached at mparas@washingtontimes.com.
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