Bronny James Suffers Cardiac Arrest

The sports world is expressing concern after the unexpected cardiac arrest emergency of Bronny James.

Current Events :
The 18-year-old LeBron ‘Bronny’ James, Jr., who is the son of NBA superstar LeBron James and his wife, Savannah, suffered a cardiac arrest while practicing at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles on Monday. Bronny, who will be a freshman this fall at USC and planned to follow his famous dad into the NBA, reportedly collapsed unconscious on the court during a Monday morning practice and had to be revived with CPR. He was rushed to the hospital by ambulance and placed in the intensive care unit. Although his family has reported that he is no longer in ICU and is considered to be in stable condition, there is still cause for concern.

Cardiac arrest is when the heart abruptly stops. It is different from a heart attack, which happens when blood flow in an artery feeding the heart is blocked. When the heart stops due to cardiac arrest, the brain is deprived of oxygen. This means that without immediate CPR, a person could experience brain damage within the first 4 to 6 minutes and die after only 10 minutes. Sadly, the survival rate for those who go into cardiac arrest and receive bystander CPR is only 11.2%.

Fortunately for Bronny James, quick-thinking officials at USC had the proper emergency training and were able to jump in to save his life.

“LeBron and Savannah wish to publicly send their deepest thanks and appreciation to the USC medical and athletic staff for their incredible work and dedication to the safety of their athletes,” a statement from the family said.

Since the birth of his first child, LeBron James has always stated that he wanted his NBA career to last long enough for him to play on the same team as his son.

“I need to be on the floor with my boy, I got to be on the floor with Bronny,” James has said on multiple occasions.

However, that dream could now be in jeopardy.

It’s possible Bronny James might have a genetic heart condition, which could prevent him from having a professional basketball career. As if that wasn’t enough, this heart emergency could scare teams away from drafting the young player if he follows through with plan to enter the NBA draft.

Depending on his diagnosis and since he could suffer another cardiac arrest at any time, the 18-year-old James may decide it’s safer to leave basketball behind altogether — a move that would be a massive blow to both him and his father.

“If they find something that puts him at a high risk for sudden death, then that … may make or break his career,” New York-based doctor Christopher Tanayan said. “Whether or not Bronny’s career can continue will depend on his family, the league, and ultimately his own appetite for risk.” He added that if hypertrophic cardiomyopathy caused the collapse, that would make playing risky as it relates to abnormal heart rhythms.

As expected, the court of public opinion couldn’t miss an opportunity to take to social media with their whacky and personal agendas regarding the James’ family emergency.

Anti-vaxxers were quick to claim that the COVID vaccine was responsible for Bronny’s cardiac arrest, in their ongoing effort to find any chance to denigrate the shot and tell the world “See, I told you so!”

The fact is that more than 300,000 people a year experience cardiac arrest outside of hospitals. Of that number, about 2,000 young, seemingly healthy people under age 25 in the United States die each year due to sudden cardiac arrest.

So, although Bronny’s cardiac arrest could be from the COVID vaccine (or any vaccine he’s taken), it could also be genetic or a condition he has just now discovered.

Instead of using this health emergency to propel internet theories, perhaps we should all just wish Bronny James a speedy recovery and a healthy life.

OK WASSUP! covers Current Events:
Basketball’s Bronny James suffers cardiac arrest.