High School Basketball Player Collapses and Dies After Winning Shot

[Nehkara]

High School Player Collapses, Dies After Winning Shot

Wes Leonard's game-winning layup in overtime brought the Fennville High School crowd to its feet, and joyous teammates and fans quickly surrounded their star player. A moment later, Leonard collapsed and died. He was just 16.

A day later, with the death blamed on an enlarged heart, this small town near Lake Michigan remembered an "all-American kid" whose athletic heroics had been local legend since middle school, when opposing coaches sometimes asked to see his birth certificate, not believing someone so young could be so skilled.

On Thursday evening, Leonard scored with less than 30 seconds remaining in the game. The final shot gave Fennville a 57-55 victory over Bridgman High and a 20-0 regular season.

After the teams exchanged handshakes, Fennville players scrambled together for a team photo to commemorate their undefeated record. That's when the six-foot-two, 215-pound Leonard collapsed.

"Thirty seconds earlier, he was laying in the winning bucket," said Ryan Klingler, basketball coach in Fennville, about 320 kilometres west of Detroit. "And then 10 seconds later ... everything's pulled out from under you, from out of nowhere."

Leonard was rushed to nearby Holland Hospital, where paramedics performed CPR before he was pronounced dead. An autopsy conducted Friday by the Ottawa County medical examiner showed Leonard died of cardiac arrest due to an enlarged heart.

Many who knew Leonard said he was destined for athletic greatness from a young age. He was a top performer in baseball and football, too.

I wish more could be done to detect these problems before they happen... such a tragedy.

[Traditional_Ale]

It is a tragedy to die so young for sure, especially with such a promising future. I hope I'm not out of line by mentioning I do think there is something to be said about dieing doing something you love to do.

[To Be Quite Honest]

I know someone who would agree with you.



Tragic in any event that a child dies. I wonder when an enlarged heart can be detected? At what age does it grow beyond the chest cavity?

[Nehkara]

As soon as it starts to become enlarged it should be detectable by a simple chest x-ray but giving every child a chest x-ray raises some other issues.

[DrJ]

Originally Posted by Nehkara

As soon as it starts to become enlarged it should be detectable by a simple chest x-ray but giving every child a chest x-ray raises some other issues.

Probably had this condition. Same cause of death for Mickey Renaud. Very sad.

While a CXR would reveal an enlarged heart, the combination of the results with physical exam and history aren't very reliable. Echocardiogram + ECG results would be able to diagnose this condition but like CXR, you can't just examine everyone.

I'm not sure how medical screens are done for high level athletes (such as those in the NHL) but echo and ECG's would hopefully be able to minimize the incidence of death in these populations.

[PIMking]

You're suppose to provide a physical to play athletics. Unless these boys are getting worried about having their balls grabbed and go to a Chiropractor for their physicals now.

[Flabbibulin]

Originally Posted by DrJ

Probably had this condition. Same cause of death for Mickey Renaud. Very sad.

While a CXR would reveal an enlarged heart, the combination of the results with physical exam and history aren't very reliable. Echocardiogram + ECG results would be able to diagnose this condition but like CXR, you can't just examine everyone.

I'm not sure how medical screens are done for high level athletes (such as those in the NHL) but echo and ECG's would hopefully be able to minimize the incidence of death in these populations.

Sounds like he had the flu last week... Can a few days of the flu cause something like myocarditis and an enlarged heart that quickly?

[Pinner]

At least he didn't miss

[Flabbibulin]

Originally Posted by PIMking

You're suppose to provide a physical to play athletics. Unless these boys are getting worried about having their balls grabbed and go to a Chiropractor for their physicals now.

A physical, which may or not include an ECG, will probably not detect Cardiomyopathy. An Echo is the fool proof method, which is very expensive and will only be given if there are significant symptoms indicating a heart problem... unfortunately, sudden death is often the first symptom of an enlarged heart (dozens of examples).

[SeeBass]

yeah why dont we test every person who ever plays a sport so we can minimize a one in 10 million chance

better yet I bet more athletes die driving home from a game perhaps they should all get an armoured car limo.

[TurnedTheCorner]

Better to die now at his peak. Almost every other high school athlete has to look back at that moment knowing life was never as good afterwards

[arloiginla]

Originally Posted by TurnedTheCorner

Better to die now at his peak. Almost every other high school athlete has to look back at that moment knowing life was never as good afterwards

I really hope you're joking.

[Cheerio]

Originally Posted by PIMking

You're suppose to provide a physical to play athletics. Unless these boys are getting worried about having their balls grabbed and go to a Chiropractor for their physicals now.

Maybe the procedure is different in the U.S. but I played high school basketball last year, and you didn't need to provide a physical of any sort.