A college in the Midlands partnered with the American Heart Association to detect any signs of heart issues in athletes before it’s too late.
Benedict College and NOLA Network joined the association for the “keep the beat” heart screening initiative, designed to better detect Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy, a condition where the heart becomes abnormally thick.
“This my first time experiencing this,” said Chrstyona Jackson, a Freshman. This is part of an initiative to enhance heart health awareness and early detection of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) among students at historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs).
The free screenings will take place from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the college on Tuesday, for all student-athletes.
“It is not school shootings or fires or any of these things. Cardiac arrest is the number one cause of death on school campuses,” said Lekesha Benson from NOLA Network.
That’s something Benson found out in her research. Benson said she’s dedicated her life to heart health education after her son died from cardiac arrest while playing basketball at college.
“They told me he was laughing. He was talking…and then he fell and then he didn’t get up,” she said.
After his death, Benson and her family learned her son had congenital heart disease. She says that disease is among the 80% of pre-existing heart conditions found on an echocardiogram, which aren’t required for South Carolina athletes in physical assessments.,
NOLA Network partnered with the American Heart Association to offer screenings for free to student-athletes…an effort to know better and do better in memory of her son.
“It’s important to check on yourself. My coaches always make sure I do that if something’s wrong,” said Chrstyona Jackson, a Freshman.
The House Education Committee held a hearing on Tuesday for the Smart Heart Act which aims to add more prevention resources against cardiac emergencies at private and public schools in the state.
