I attended a small private high school in Houston.  We had 75 students in my graduating high school class.  Our school was known for its high academic standards not its athletic prowess.  We did, however, have one student in my senior class Frank McMurry who was an exceptional athlete. 

Frank was ranked in the top 10 in pole vaulters in the state of Texas my senior year.  As you may know, pole vaulters are truly elite athletes combining sprinting with gymnastic abilities.  My classmates and I truly admired Frank’s athletic ability and considered him almost super human.  High school students generally consider themselves practically immortal; a super human would be the more so.  However, on one particular day during a track meet Frank was asked to participate in a relay race in the 440 relay.  As a terrific sprinter Frank agreed to run the second leg of the 440 yard relay race. 

Just as he was handing off his baton to the third man, he collapsed on the track.  Frank was in cardiac arrest.  Frank’s father, a prominent surgeon in Houston, watched this event in terror; he immediately started performing CPR on Frank.  Futile attempts to resuscitate Frank went on for over an hour.  Frank was transported to the nearest emergency room and was pronounced dead on arrival. 

His autopsy revealed that he had hypertrophic cardiomyopathy(HCM).  Our entire senior class was in shock that our super human classmate could be so vulnerable and so mortal. 

It was this event that inspired me to go into cardiology and later to develop the Championship Hearts Foundation devoted to athlete screening. 

This is a preventable event.  Although HCM is difficult to diagnose with the usual physical examination it is very easy to detect with a limited echo.

                                                                              George Rodgers, MD.

                                                                               President, Board of Directors for Championship Hearts Foundation