BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) – Health studies show sudden cardiac arrest is the leading cause of death among young athletes. Some experts say it results in one death in a high school student every three days in the U.S.
Dionne Mack lost her son in 2010 to Cardiac Arrhythmia. Eighteen-year-old Tyrell Spencer was playing recreational basketball, something he did multiple times a week when he collapsed and later died.
“It’s not something that I think any parent expects,” says Mack. “He left to go play basketball like he would do most days.”
Spencer played multiple sports throughout childhood, so his mother couldn’t understand what went wrong.
“He started playing sports in the third grade, so it just didn’t make sense to me,” adds Mack. “Once I found out it was Cardiac Arrhythmia, I partnered with the American Heart Association.”
That partnership led to Mack working with Alabama Representative Jeremy Gray on House Bill 45, also known as The Tyrell Spencer Act, requiring every school in Alabama to adhere to specific guidelines when it comes to sports.
“We can get better sports physicals,” said Mack. “Better screenings so hopefully these things can be prevented, and if they can’t be prevented, we can have measures in place like emergency action plans requiring CPR certifications are more up to date and AED equipment is within five minutes of sporting events.”
Governor Ivey signed the bill into law in May. But now, Representative Gray says they need more funds to ensure each school has adequate AEDs for sporting events.
“We’re kind of working with the NFL and some other organizations to see how we can get AEDs in more schools,” adds Gray. “Especially your Title One schools. A lot of those cannot afford a lot of those AEDs. We don’t want it to happen, but seeing this is something that could continue to happen.”
The state requires AEDs in each K-12 school, and the Alabama High School Athletic Association requires an athletic emergency plan at every venue for athletic events.
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