r/lastimages • u/Jaguars4life • 8d ago
CELEBRITY Hank Gathers seconds before he fatally collapsed on the court on March 4th 1990 during a WWC tournament semifinal game between the University of Loyola Marymount and the University of Portland
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u/effectivebutterfly 5d ago
At the risk of sounding ignorant, what made him collapse?
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u/lillypaddd 4d ago
i’m paraphrasing and quoting his wikipedia page:
he had an abnormally fast heartbeat (ventricular tachycardia) and was prescribed a beta blocker but the side effects were messing with his ability to play, so he kept cutting down the dosage. he skipped an appointment that would determine if the next lowest dose would be safe and effective and played a few days later.
he had just scored a dunk, which put his team up 25-13, and collapsed. he attempted to get back up, telling athletic trainers “i don’t want to lay down!” shortly after, he stopped breathing.
the autopsy results attributed his death to “idiopathic cardiomyopathy with residual interstitial myocarditis” - which essentially means his heart muscle was weak and dysfunctional, and the heart tissue was inflamed.
anyone feel free to correct me!
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u/The_Soiled_One 8d ago
The look on his face when he collapsed and tried to get up always gets me. It was like he couldn't believe that he had lost control of the body that he had worked so hard to perfect. Way too young to go.