12 • SUNDAY, MAY 9, 2021 • CAREGIVER
COURTESY OF PEYTON WALKER FOUNDATION
Players on Pennsylvania’s Big 33 football team received heart screenings in April thanks in
part to the Peyton Walker Foundation.
Debate continues whether young
athletes should be screened
doctor know about as well, because sometimes
the athlete may actually notice reduced
functional capacity even before they
develop some of those other symptoms.”
Walker said the foundation has been getting
inquiries from parents about whether or
not they should get their kids checked after
having covid-19. She tells them she’s not a
doctor but can point them to some resources
and share discussions.
“But I think the No. 1 thing is talking to
your kids about the signs and symptoms
that could be presenting because of a heart
issue,” she said. “Just knowing what to look
for. Kids don’t want to be pulled from play so
they maybe won’t tell you something weird’s
going on, or maybe they’re afraid the coach
will say they’re slacking off. Coaches, too,
sometimes treat kids like they’re being lazy
when the kid may be having a heart issue,
unbeknownst to the coach. Then other kids
may have always had symptoms but they
dismiss it as normal, like, ‘My heart always
races,’ or ‘I’m always short of breath.’ They
don’t know to label it as a symptom.”
Since working with Senator Mike Regan
to pass Peyton’s Law, Walker said her next
step will be pushing insurance companies
to cover EKGs and screenings as part of
normal physicals.
According to the Mayo Clinic, perhaps
one in every 50,000 sudden cardiac deaths
a year occurs in a young athlete, and there
is debate in the medical community over
whether or not to screen young athletes in
order to identify those who could be at risk.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
says that 2,000 seemingly healthy people
under 25 die of sudden cardiac death every
year in the U.S.
Since losing her daughter, however, Walker
said she has heard from too many parents
who didn’t know to ask for an EKG and also
lost their children to sudden cardiac arrest.
“They say (testing) is like trying to find a
needle in a haystack, but isn’t that what we
do with pap smears and mammograms?”Walker said. “And isn’t it devastating to lose
one child?”
Karen Price is a Tribune-Review contributing writer.
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