Arkansas family finds answers at Le Bonheur

Almost two years ago, Chris Winston was playing in the first quarter of his school’s basketball game when he suddenly collapsed on the sidelines. The athletic trainer could not find a pulse.

The 15-year-old sophomore at Parkview High in Little Rock, Ark., had no history of medical problems and was a healthy, athletic teenager who received routine health physicals. Now, medics feared he was dead.

In the stands, fans for both teams began a prayer circle, calling friends and family asking them to pray “for a young man who had died on the basketball court that night,” said Chris’ dad Bill.  Within seconds, the news quickly spread through e-mail and Facebook.

Just nine days prior to the game, Parkview installed an automated external defibrillator (AED) in the school. The trainer and game official – a trained paramedic -- were able to get Chris’ heart to beat again using the AED.

Chris was rushed to a local hospital where he was sedated for three days. Doctors determined that Chris experienced sudden cardiac death, a condition where the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. When this happens, blood stops flowing to the brain and other vital organs. Sudden cardiac death is extremely rare and occurs in 1 of every 400,000 athletes. African American males are most at risk.

Doctors warned that Chris could experience another similar episode again and implanted a cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) in Chris’ heart. Similar to a pacemaker, this device would protect Chris’ heart if it suddenly stopped again.

When Chris finally woke up three days later, Chris’ parents Bill and Tammy still had many questions. They wanted to know what caused his heart to stop and if it was likely to happen again. Bill began searching online to find an expert in sudden cardiac death and to see what additional testing could be performed on his son.

“When something like this happens to your child, you want to find out as much information as possible,” said Bill. “I got online and joined forums, and tried to read as much as I could to figure out what the next steps were.”

His search led him to the Heart Institute at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital, just two hours away in Memphis, Tenn., where Dr. Glenn Wetzel, an electrophysiologist, and pediatric cardiologists Dr. Vijay Joshi and Dr. Ryan Jones could offer their expertise for the Winston family.

Chris received thorough testing at Le Bonheur. Wetzel and Jones performed an electrophysiology study, placing catheters into different parts of Chris’ heart to pace and record its electrical activity.  Results showed that Chris had an enlarged heart, and was diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Bill and Tammy were pleased with the testing Chris received. “I have a better understanding of my son’s heart,” said Bill. “I wanted testing done each check-up. I can tell the doctors here are good people.”

Chris continues to see doctors at Le Bonheur every three months for monitoring. Today, Chris is a healthy and active 18-year-old. He is finishing his senior year at Parkview and is preparing to start college in the fall. While Chris has no memory of that day on the basketball court or the immediate days following, he credits all of the positive messages and prayers he received during that time for where he is today.

“I constantly pray,” said Chris. “And that is what helps me get through it.”

Chris’ mom Tammy says Chris has maintained good grades and serves as a leader on his basketball team. Even though he is no longer the starting forward he once was, he is able to motivate his teammates on the sidelines.