My son plays football so this story is close to my heart.
The first time I heard about football players (with sickle cell) dying on the field was a story about a young player from Florida. I read, after he died from heat and over exertion, his family was blamed for "not telling anyone" that he had sickle cell trait. The problem was, he nor his family knew that he had sickle cell.
This terrible situation may be prevented forever, according to CBS Sports.com Senior Writer, Dennis Dodd. In his June 29, 2009 article, NCAA to recommend schools test for sickle cell trait he states, ... the NCAA and Rice University settled a lawsuit brought by the family of a Rice football player (Dale Lloyd) who died in 2006 due to complications resulting from sickle cell trait.
As a result of the settlement, the NCAA, regarding player safety, will now recommend testing for sickle cell trait of its players. In addition, Rice will help sponsor NCAA legislation to make sickle cell trait testing mandatory
Dale Lloyd did not die in vain. The legacy he leaves behind will benefit football players all over America. They will be tested prior to those HOT summer workouts and maybe now, they won't blame the players for not knowing.
Read Dennis' article:
For more information on the subject:
Rice University -Dale Lloyd Bio Page - http://riceowls.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/lloyd_dale00.html
Dale Lloyd Memorial Scholarship - http://riceowls.cstv.com/genrel/101106aae.html
Black Coaches and Administrators - http://bcasports.cstv.com/genrel/062807aaa.html
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Hey P. Allen,
ReplyDeleteSuch a sad story, but informative! I'm Hua, the director of Wellsphere's HealthBlogger Network, a network of over 2,000 of the best health writers on the web (including doctors, nurses, healthy living professionals, and expert patients). I think your blog would be a great addition to the Network, and I'd like to invite you to learn more about it and apply to join at http://www.wellsphere.com/health-blogger. Once approved by our Chief Medical Officer, your posts will be republished on Wellsphere where they will be available to over 5 million monthly visitors who come to the site looking for health information and support. There’s no cost and no extra work for you! The HealthBlogger page (http://www.wellsphere.com/health-blogger) provides details about participation, but if you have any questions please feel free to email me at hua@wellsphere.com.
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Santino Holmes, New York Jets footballer didn't know he had SC Trait, his 9 year old son has the disease (mom had trait also).
ReplyDeleteThis NCAA testing could have informed Santino of his SC trait when he was in college.