OL H Benedict's heart gave out on him

[Woods]

NFL | Enlarged heart caused Benedict's death
Fri, 28 Mar 2008 21:59:03 -0700

John Murphy, of Yahoo Sports, and Josh Buchanan, of NFLDraftBible.com, reports Newberry OL Heath Benedict's cause of death has officially been listed as having died of natural causes due to an enlarged heart, according to several sources close to the situation. One of the sources said that doctors informed the family that "his heart just gave out on him." He will be buried Monday, March 31, in Pennsylvania, where his parents currently reside. Newberry will hold a memorial service Tuesday, April 1 and a family memorial will be held Friday, April 4.


I know many of us were wondering what happened . . . .

 

[silverbear]

NFL | Enlarged heart caused Benedict's death
Fri, 28 Mar 2008 21:59:03 -0700

John Murphy, of Yahoo Sports, and Josh Buchanan, of NFLDraftBible.com, reports Newberry OL Heath Benedict's cause of death has officially been listed as having died of natural causes due to an enlarged heart, according to several sources close to the situation. One of the sources said that doctors informed the family that "his heart just gave out on him." He will be buried Monday, March 31, in Pennsylvania, where his parents currently reside. Newberry will hold a memorial service Tuesday, April 1 and a family memorial will be held Friday, April 4.


I know many of us were wondering what happened . . . .

That's kind of what I expected to hear, my worst fears were that it would prove to be drug-related... it's comforting to know that was not the case...

So young, with such a BRIGHT future ahead of him... it's impossibly sad...

 

[CrazyCowboy]

What a shame this had to happen......I pray for his family and friends.

 

[Hostile]

Way too young.

 

[Sarge]

Thoughts and prayers................

 

[sago1]

Pardon my lack of knowledge on this subject. But does this mean he was born with an enlarged heart which was never detected & the extreme physical exertion he went through to play football lead to his death? Or was it something in his sports/football training that led to an enlarged heart? I've heart about this situation a few times and just wondered why athletes (football players in particular) aren't given an extensive physical to detect this problem at least before they play college football.

 

[JPM]

Pardon my lack of knowledge on this subject. But does this mean he was born with an enlarged heart which was never detected & the extreme physical exertion he went through to play football lead to his death? Or was it something in his sports/football training that led to an enlarged heart? I've heart about this situation a few times and just wondered why athletes (football players in particular) aren't given an extensive physical to detect this problem at least before they play college football.

Some info I could find on the condition. It's also not something they check for.
http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4517
http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4468

 

[AsthmaField]

Pardon my lack of knowledge on this subject. But does this mean he was born with an enlarged heart which was never detected & the extreme physical exertion he went through to play football lead to his death? Or was it something in his sports/football training that led to an enlarged heart? I've heart about this situation a few times and just wondered why athletes (football players in particular) aren't given an extensive physical to detect this problem at least before they play college football.

If it is enlarged from training... then wouldn't anabolic steroids also make it grow larger than it normally would, too?

 

[JPM]

If it is enlarged from training... then wouldn't anabolic steroids also make it grow larger than it normally would, too?

A toxicology report may show if he was on juice or not.

 

[TwoCentPlain]

It is not just fat football players, every year some skinny, in-shape basketball player(s) at some college die from some heart problem.

It seems like all college players should have CT scans, MRIs etc. Most of these schools have med schools and could do have the tests done for free or at least minimal cost. Although, would the tests do any good?

Then again, I guess the anti-government as "big brother" freaks would cry. And the ACLU freaks would sue. And Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson would boycott(for what, I have no idea). And the privacy freaks would cry.

 

[Eskimo]

My guess is that he was born with a condition known as hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy. Individuals with this condition are at high risk of developing ventricular fibrillation even at a young age and dying from cardiac arrest. I believe Hank Gathers, the college basketball player and Reggie Lewis, the Celtics forward also died of the same condition. Often times it may not show up easily on routine physicals because often the heart isn't uniformly enlarged, just thickened in certain spots. The one sign of it can be a subtle heart murmur that changes with stress. It often will show up on an ECG but sometimes the findings can be written off to just being a young muscular guy.

All this is just an educated guess.

 

[WoodysGirl]

Rest in peace, Heath Benedict

I was surprised to hear the sad news about Heath Benedict, found dead on his couch at age 24. Guys that young are not supposed to be found dead, not like that. We don't know the facts yet, but the term "natural causes" have been used. That's really disturbing.

Benedict is an interesting kid. I got a chance to spend a few minutes with him at the Senior Bowl, and he was something of a minor celebrity that week. Seemed like a decent kid. A bit defensive about some things, but a good guy to talk to.

A lot of the national writers wanted to watch him play, given his low level of experience -- Division II Newberry College -- and most came away fairly impressed. He wasn't overwhelmed by the competition. He held his own against some guys from some big schools. He scrapped with a few guys in practice, such as Hampton's Kendall Langford. And Benedict probably assured himself of being a second-day draft pick with a solid week, probably somewhere around Round Five.

No longer. If you want to use the "When God closes a door, somewhere he opens a window" approach, there probably will be one more lineman who will get drafted this year now that Benedict is gone. But it's still remarkably sad that this young guy, a player who admitted he partied a little too much before but had turned things around and had a future, is gone forever.

May his family live as peacefully as possible in his difficult time.

Posted by Eric Edholm on March 27, 2008 11:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

 

[AbeBeta]

That's kind of what I expected to hear, my worst fears were that it would prove to be drug-related... it's comforting to know that was not the case...

So young, with such a BRIGHT future ahead of him... it's impossibly sad...

Not to suggest anything negative about Benedict but toxicology reports generally take several weeks so the drug angle isn't really settled yet.

I too hope that isn't the case.

 

[Biggems]

when they said no foul play, alcohol, or drugs.....my first thought, because of his size, was sleep apnea. I know that a lot of heavier people suffer from this.....Former players have died because of this condition, including Reggie White.

So his ticker stopped ticking....that is sad....especially since he was about to receive a nice payday and be able to possibly help out some of his family and friends.....

I am wondering, if he is an NFL calibur athlete, and these players are poked and prodded and have to go through all kinds of physical tests, how come no one was able to figure out that he had a bad heart. I guess his condition was such that it was very subtle, yet very deadly....