<br>Bedford player will be brought out of induced coma soon, doctor says

Christopher Campbell, 17, remained in critical condition Thursday at Toledo Children's Hospital, a hospital spokesman said.

The boy collapsed and went into cardiac arrest about 10 minutes into football conditioning at Bedford Community Stadium Tuesday evening.

The victim of a previously undetected heart condition, the teenager is now on a ventilator in a medically-induced coma. To preserve brain function, his physicians induced hypothermia in a procedure commonly used among cardiac arrest patients. His body temperature was gradually lowered by several degrees to preserve brain function that may have been at risk during the minutes his heart stopped beating.

The coma and hypothermia will likely be reversed before Saturday, said Dr. Fouad Butto, the pediatric cardiologist treating the boy. Little is known at this point about the teenager's brain function, the doctor said.

"Worst case scenario is that he will be damaged neurologically. I think there is no risk for his life now," Dr. Butto said. "The best case scenario is he is as normal as he was. That is a real possibility."

From previous editions of The Blade and toledoblade.com

Bedford football player collapses from cardiac arrest, kept in coma

By BRIDGET THARP and MARK REITER

BLADE STAFF WRITERS

TEMPERANCE - Christopher Campbell, 17, tapped his younger cousin on the shoulder before he collapsed and went into cardiac arrest during Bedford High School football conditioning this week.

Dan Campbell, 15, said he turned to find his cousin and best friend motionless on the ground Tuesday at Bedford Community Stadium, with hands clenched in a pose that seemed to indicate a seizure.

"It was the worst thing I've ever seen in my life," Dan said.

The victim had no pulse.

Coaches performed compressions for several minutes until Monroe County Sheriff's Deputy Jeremy Lestock used a defribillator on the boy. Emergency room doctors told the Campbell family that quick action may have saved Christopher's life.

The victim of a previously undetected heart condition, the teenager is now on a ventilator in a medically induced coma, and temporarily being kept at a body temperature of about 89 degrees to preserve brain function that may have been at risk during the minutes his heart stopped beating, the family said.

Christopher was diagnosed with the genetic heart condition, hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy, in which the blood flowing away from the heart becomes obstructed. The condition is "an odd anomoly" that is nearly undetectible even with prescreening and most often surfaces during physical exertion, said Dr. Marsha Cushman, an emergency room physician at Toledo Hospital who did not treat the boy.

"Its as likely that he could have died," Dr. Cushman said, adding that the first responders deserve the credit for saving his life. "It's a very tragic outcome most of the time."

Christopher's mother, Tammy Campbell, was shocked to learn of her son's condition. There is no known family history of such heart problems.

"He's the healthiest child I've ever had. He's the only one of the four that's never in the doctor's office unless its a routine thing," she said.

It is a waiting game until Christopher's body temperature is slowly restored over 24 hours, after which time he could face a surgery to implant a tiny defribillator device in his chest, his mother said. She will have to tell her son that he can no longer play football - the sport that has been "his life" since seventh grade.

An avid athlete, Christopher enjoyed daily workouts and was due to wrestle at Bedford. No more, she said.

"This is all he's worked up for," she said.

Christopher transferred to Bedford after playing football last year in Howell, Mich. Though his mother lives in the Toledo Public Schools district, Christopher has lived with two of his uncles in Michigan to play on choice teams, she said. He dreamed of a football scholarship.

The family is confident he'll find another niche. He's always excelled at mathematics, was homecoming king his freshman year at Howell High School, and was involved "in everything" last year, Ms. Campbell said.

But it won't be easy to break the news.

"His world is going to be upside down for a while."

He became unconscious Tuesday about 10 minutes after he and the other players began the 7 p.m. workout. Mark German, who will replace Bill Regnier as the district's athletic director next week, said Christopher and other high school athletes were participating in a conditioning program called captain's conditioning.

The program, which is directed by team captains of Mule sports teams, is voluntary and coaches are nearby to supervise, he said.

Michigan High School Athletic Association rules don't permit teams to begin official workouts until Aug. 9.

Ms. Campbell emphasized that she doesn't blame the coaches or the athletic program for her son's episode. She praised the quick action of those who initially treated her son and noted the support of the team and first responders, many of which spent the first night with her at the hospital after he collapsed.

"They are the only reason I have my baby."

The Michigan High School Athletic Association said that data from the National Federation of State High School Associations shows that 31 high school players have died from heat stroke since 1995, with two occurring last year.

He is not the first student-athlete to collapse during exercise in the Toledo area.

A University of Toledo basketball player collapsed and died after the start of basketball conditioning in October, 2006.

An autopsy determined Haris Charalambous, 21, of Manchester, England, died of an acute aortic dissection that led to a rupture of his aorta. Genetic testing later showed he had Marfan's syndrome that may have contributed to his death.

In September, 2004, two local football players died within the span of a week.

A freshman trying out for the Bowling Green State University's football team died after becoming ill only 10 minutes into his first practice. Aaron Richardson, 18, complained of cramps and then stopped breathing in the locker room. He died shortly after.

Mr. Richardson was a four-year member of Sandusky's Perkins High School football and track teams and was thought to be in good health by family members. The Wood County coroner's office said his death resulted from heart and lung failure stemming from sickle cell disease.

Robert Lewis, 15, who played football at Central Catholic High School, died the same week.

He was the quarterback of the freshman football team and completed what school officials called a "light practice" before telling friends he was light-headed while waiting for a ride home.

He collapsed almost immediately after and was taken to Mercy St. Vincent Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. The cause of death was attributed to hereditary spherocytosis, a rare blood disorder.

Previously, Leslie Dawley, a freshman women's soccer player at Bowling Green State University collapsed and died while playing in a Mid-American Conference tournament game. She died in November, 2002.

In 2001, a standout football player at Rogers High School who was also an OSU recruit, collapsed during a pickup basketball game and died. Drushaun Humphrey, 18, arrived at the hospital in full cardiac arrest. It was later determined that he had an undiagnosed heart condition.

Staff writer Sarah Mervosh contributed to this report.

Contact Bridget Tharp at:

btharp@theblade.com

or 419-724-6086.