Cornell lax player collapses

[Kristi 97]

My prayers go out to the family and players of both teams.  As a Cornell ('97) and BU (grad) student, a cardiovascular biologist and a lacrosse player (BU W club),  I cannot express my sympathy.  This is such a tragedy.  

[ugarte]

This is sad and sickening.  I can't even begin to contemplate the pain his family is feeling.  

Please post any information about sending condolences to the family or any info if the family or school establishes a memorial fund.

[Kristen\'00]

I heard the sad news while watching the 11pm broadcast.  It's truly shocking.  My prayers go out to George's family, friends, the lax team and the whole Cornell community.  Since the newscast just had a short blurb, I wanted to find out more information and it's nice to know that there is an outlet like this where we can come together, especially in a time like this.  Please continue to post updates as they become available.

[Ben Rocky '04]

As a freshman suitemate of George, I just want to say that he was an incredibly warm and friendly guy, and was the epitome of what a student- athlete- Cornellian should be.  

My condolences to his family, teammates, and ATO brothers.  His loss will be felt across campus.  May he rest in peace.

[Shorts]

The AP is running a blurb.  In addition, there are a couple articles in today's Sun:

Main report: http://www.cornellsun.com/articles/11340/
Reaction: http://www.cornellsun.com/articles/11335/

It feels like Cornell Athletics has had more than it's share of tragedy in the 4 years I've been on the Hill.

[jy3]

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/news/story?id=1762103

[jeh25]

Louis Acompora, 14 year old goalie on LI, was killed in a similar manner in March 2000.

Although a cause of death has not been determined for George Boiardi, commotio cordis certainly seems possible.

As mentioned by both Micaela and David, if the chest is struck during a very narrow window in the repolarization phase of the muscle, ventricular fibrillation can result. I poked around in PubMed and it turns out that an animal model exists; they launch baseballs at the chests of juvenile pigs at 30-40 mph and can get the heart to stop if impact occurs on the upslope of the T-wave.  (Prog Biophys Mol Biol. 2003 May-Jul;82(1-3):175-86.)

Also, I pulled up the abstract of the JAMA article mentioned in the Daily Sun (JAMA. 2002 Mar 6;287(9):1142-6). Turns out that chest protection doesn't necessarily protect athletes from commotio cordis:

"Commotio cordis events occurred most commonly during organized sporting events (79 [62%]), such as baseball, but 49 (38%) occurred as part of daily routine and recreational activities. Fatal blows were inflicted with a wide range of velocities but often occurred inadvertently and under circumstances not usually associated with risk for sudden death in informal settings near the home or playground. Twenty-two (28%) participants were wearing commercially available chest barriers, including 7 in whom the projectile made direct contact with protective padding (baseball catchers and lacrosse/hockey goalies), and 2 in whom the projectile was a baseball specifically designed to reduce risk. Only 21 (16%) individuals survived their event, with particularly prompt cardiopulmonary resuscitation/defibrillation (most commonly reversing ventricular fibrillation) the only identifiable factor associated with a favorable outcome.

[CUlater 89]

Didn't this also happen in a junior hockey game in the past year or so?

[adamw]

Not sure if you're referring to this:

http://www.uscho.com/news/2000/12/27_001367.php

12-year old hockey player in Mass.

This whole thing is truly awful.

[Chris 02]

Nice ribbon, Age.

[Brian]

Here was Binghamton's response:



http://athletics.binghamton.edu/sports/mlacr/cornellplayer.html

[O.S.B.]

Does anybody know if this is nat'l news I did see it on espn.com but it wasn't mentioned on PTI

[Beeeej]

Ribbon?  What am I missing?

What a godawful thing to happen.  I'm just horrified.

Beeeej

[Shorts]

OSB--as I mentioned, the AP picked it up, and so a brief mention was given in many news sources nationwide.

Other updates:

Controversy in the Sun about their decision to print certain details of the game:
Letter to editor: http://www.cornelldailysun.com/articles/11382/
Editorial response: http://www.cornelldailysun.com/articles/11380/

Cornell Athletics (OCSN) site, including the comments of University Officials from Cornell, Binghamton, and Syracuse, as well as a link for submitting "thoughts, prayers and remembrances": http://cornellbigred.ocsn.com/sports/m-lacros/spec-rel/031804aaa.html

[dss28]

The Hartford Courant mentioned it, too.