MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Va. – Cardiologists are urging parents to make sure they take their child’s heart health seriously.
Eighteen-year-old Bronny James, son of basketball player LeBron James, is recovering from cardiac arrest.
Doctors at LewisGale Hospital Montgomery say parents who have children involved with sports should ask if there is a trained person who knows CPR or can use defibrillator.
Experts say the reason some athletes experience cardiac arrest is because they didn’t know they have a heart defect.
“One example of that is HOCM, hypertrophy obstructive cardiomyopathy, a lot of athletes who have had this happen, not all of them but a big percentage of them have this underlying malformation of the heart, if they knew that ahead of time, they could have avoided this,” Dr. John Patterson with LewisGale Hospital Montgomery said.
Health leaders say one organization, the Compress and Shock Foundation teaches the public CPR and how to use defibrillators in case someone is dealing with cardiac arrest.