23 year old tri-athlete dies of heart attack

[PapaHappyStar]

He probably had some hidden heart disease --

U.S. triathlete dies of a heart attack

Patrick Bell, a U.S. triathlete, has died suddenly of a heart attack on Sunday, June 19, shortly after competing in a triathlon in Ashland, MA. He had just placed 11th in the Ashland Lions MetroWest Triathlon at the Warren Conference Center, which included a 1 mile swim, a 26 mile bike ride, and a 6 mile run. Patrick was on the Vortex Racing Triathlon Development Team, a national racing team, and was competing for a spot in the next Olympics. Since his 2004 graduation from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst with degrees in computer science and computer systems engineering, Patrick was employed as a computer software engineer for the EMC Corp. of Southboro.

Funeral services will be held Friday, 6/24 at 10 am from the Kostanski Funeral Home, 220 Federal Street, Greenfield, MA, followed by a Liturgy of Christian Burial at 11 am in Holy Trinity Church on Main Street in Greenfield. Burial will follow in Calvary Cemetery. Calling hours at the funeral home will be Thursday, 6/23 from 4-8 pm.

Memorial contributions may be made to Deerfield Academy Scholarship Fund, Main Street, Deerfield, MA 01342 or to the Holy Trinity Church Renovation Fund, 133 Main Street, Greenfield, MA 01301.

Those of us who know should be a bit careful, know our limits and wear a heart rate monitor...

 

[Wise]

That's so tragic for that man's family. Such a loss.

Burair, did I understand correctly that you may want to compete as a triathlete at some point? In many ways you are fortunate with the knowledge you have; you can go into such a sport with possible lifesaving information. Aren't you glad your wife made you see the doctor with your "cold" or whatever it was?

Wise

 

[PapaHappyStar]

That's so tragic for that man's family. Such a loss.

Burair, did I understand correctly that you may want to compete as a triathlete at some point? In many ways you are fortunate with the knowledge you have; you can go into such a sport with possible lifesaving information. Aren't you glad your wife made you see the doctor with your "cold" or whatever it was?

Wise

There was a cardiology conference discussing sudden death and limitations and screening of athletes with heart disease -- the proceedings are in the the Journal of the Am. Coll. of Cardiology ( Vol. 45 Issue 8 ) -- I've been reading it, I will quote interesting parts from them in a new thread...

I was lucky, I've never done a triathlon though -- but I swim and cycle at a good intensity and now monitor myself more. I was perhaps on the cusp of being overtly symptomatic ( in retrospect had been feeling off-color for years -- dont need the optometrist for hindsight... )

 

[MarkU]

Tragic news, for sure. But unfortunately, it happens everyday to seemingly "healthy" people.
I think that most of the people on this forum are much more self-aware of their cardiac health situation than the general populace - a good thing for sure.
I also strongly believe in the importance of heart rate training. I do my triathlon training at my aerobic threshhold, which for me is about 130-140 BPM.
I feel extremely fortunate that other than my aortic valve, my heart and arteries are in great shape (my last catherization revealed that I have unclogged "monster" arteries).
I'm scheduled to undergo VO2 max testing in next couple of months. I did some preliminary tests showing it to be about 55%, but will be interested in seeing the results of more extensive formal testing.
Mark

 

[BillCobit]

good stuff!

good stuff!

There was a cardiology conference discussing sudden death and limitations and screening of athletes with heart disease -- the proceedings are in the the Journal of the Am. Coll. of Cardiology ( Vol. 45 Issue 8 ) -- I've been reading it, I will quote interesting parts from them in a new thread...

Good find, Burair!

http://www.acc.org/clinical/bethesda/beth36/index.pdf

I had previously spent a lot of time looking for the 1994 Bethesda Conference proceedings - found lots of references to it, but never the actual doc (well, not for free, anyway).

I am going to read this - not right now, though - it's Saturday morning and almost dawn, so I'm off for my long bike workout. Hope there's nothing in there I need to know ahead of time!

 

[PapaHappyStar]

Good find, Burair!

http://www.acc.org/clinical/bethesda/beth36/index.pdf

I had previously spent a lot of time looking for the 1994 Bethesda Conference proceedings - found lots of references to it, but never the actual doc (well, not for free, anyway).

I am going to read this - not right now, though - it's Saturday morning and almost dawn, so I'm off for my long bike workout. Hope there's nothing in there I need to know ahead of time!

Same to you! I didnt know of the free pdf...

If you need journal articles, I can probably help. I have online access to the JACC and many other journals and paper access for old articles if needed as well ( though this is a bit harder ).