That near drowning was a wake-up call, now he will get treatment and/or medication for the heart defect. He is a lucky fellow more ways than one.

You know, ever since you posted about the incident it has never quite left my mind. I know of several young people who were athletes in fact, who were running time bombs but the conditions were never picked up on physicals, especially mandatory physicals most athletes must take before participating in sports. It bothers me.

At least one or two adolescent deaths hit the news each year in our area of the state and it always has to do with underlying conditions nobody knew about until the child was stressed out. For the last few decades, children are stressed out to the limits by the expectations put into secondary school sports anymore. EKGs are not expensive tests, and they should not be reserved for the elderly and near elderly. Childhood heart diseases are not so uncommon.

I'm glad this had a positive outcome. Death from drowning doesn't always happen at the drowning. Aspirated water has a lot of impact on the body and its balance.

Calliope, I know what you mean about the physicals for high school sports. What they require for the boy/girl is really just a bare minimum....like "can he breathe in and out?" I suspect a lot of problems like weird hearts can be overlooked.

Maybe it's a case of money. I don't know. Who pays for the physical...schools or parents? I guess it depends on the school system.

In our school systems, it is paid for by the parents and done by their own pediatricians. I do remember, however, my husband telling me when his children were in sports, one physician came to the school and did them all en masse.

I also have issues with school systems who think they are training professional atheletes and glory comes at any expense. Both of my kids were 'jocks' and at the time I was relieved that their free time was spent in things other than partying. But there were numerous occasions where the demands made on them were ill-thought out and risky.

I remember my son asking me if it was serious if he hadn't peed for over a day. Holy bat poo???? His athletic coach had those kids doing two-a-days in gear during a hot summer and it hit me why. I filled him with electrolytes and went rattling chains. A lot of good it did. The same year a young man died (not in our district, but one fairly close) and it was attributed to an undiscovered heart condition. Well, guess what dehydration can do? It can cause heart arrythmias very quickly to the healthiest person.

Another incidence was when a terrible blizzard had hit and I was stranded at work in hospital. I worked pretty much around the clock to cover for those who couldn't get in, because I couldn't get out to go home anyway. My kids were of course not in school, it had been cancelled and they were older teens, whom I knew could take care of themselves and I called the people near us to check in on them. I couldn't reach them by phone and called the lady across the street from us who said they were out pushing the car out of the snow bank. Hello? I asked her to send them inside so I could talk to them. The reason they were out pushing the car out was so he could go to sports practise. It had NOT been cancelled. Is this idiotic or what? BTW I forbade him. Again I call the school and rattle chains.

And thanks to title nine, sports injuries now are equal opportunity employers and both my kids had them. No adult should have life-long aftermaths from public school sports. arg. Off my soapbox.

Hop down off that soap box and let me get on.

Sports are great! BUT, the amount of time that students spend playing, practicing, traveling, is getting to be too much. Too much classroom time is spent trying to have the #1 team in the City... make that, #1 in the State.

School used to be to educate and prepare students for adult life. They can't make it in college because they are ill-prepared. But heck! They know how to play football, baseball, basketball, volleyball, soccer, and sometimes something unusual, like golf and tennis. Wheeee!!

My husband has a bad ankle, (high school football) that bothers him enough in cold weather that he has to take pain medication. Two of our grandsons have had serious knee injuries that required surgery.

Watching your kids swallowed up by high school sports is one thing, but believe it or not, watching your grandchildren is worse!

Now, the soap box is again free and available.

One of my ice hockey team students in Fall 2010 had a teammate literally fall over dead of a heart attack, standing in his living room, at the age of 19. I don't know if it's even possible to check out every boy or girl who plays every sport. But it's sure hard when they die and there was no indication that there was a previous condition.