Hamlet Nalbandyan
The first thing Jason Chamberlin told his mother, Mia, when he
woke up Thursday morning was, "I have to get to football practice."
Considering that less than 24 hours prior, the Glendale High
football player was unconscious and in critical condition at Los
Angeles Children's Hospital after suffering from a heat stroke, the
fact that he was awake and saying anything at all was a miracle.
Now, it wasn't exactly what Mia wanted to hear him say, but she
was glad to hear it anyway.
Football-related deaths are rising at an alarming rate, and
Chamberlin's name was almost added to the disturbing statistics.
The 14-year old sophomore, who will celebrate his 15th birthday
Tuesday, collapsed during Wednesday morning's practice, the first day
of "Hell Week" for the Nitros, and was rushed to Glendale Memorial
Hospital with a 107-degree fever.
He was unconscious for much of the day and was on a respirator to
help him breathe.
At one point, according to Dr. Brigham Willis -- who treated
Chamberlin in the intensive care unit at Children's Hospital --
Chamberlin, who weighs more than 280 pounds, even stopped breathing.
Sadly, Chamberlin's case is not a rarity these days in football.
The much-publicized deaths of Minnesota Vikings offensive lineman
Korey Stringer and Northwestern University defensive back Rashidi
Wheeler have raised many eyebrows, and for good reason.
There were 13 heat stroke-related football deaths in the 1980s
according to the National Center for Catastrophic Sport Injury
Research.
But since 1995, there have been 20, including seven in the past
two years.
But unlike many of those incidents, which involved extremely hot
weather temperatures, Chamberlin's case is unusual.
It was in the mid-60s Wednesday morning when Chamberlin collapsed,
and he was in good health when he came to practice that day.
"It's just a freak accident," said Glendale High junior varsity
offensive line coach Randall Green, who played for the Nitros the
past three years.
Glendale Coach Loi Phan gave his players four water breaks during
the two-hour session, which is much more than what the players are
accustomed to.
According to Green, he had no water breaks when he went through
"Hell Week" his junior year and just one last year.
And during that time, no Nitros suffered from heat exhaustion.
But it just goes to show, that even with all the precautions that
Phan and other football coaches around the country are now taking,
accidents do happen -- and will continue happening.
Fortunately for Chamberlin, he'll get his chance to go back to
practice. And his teammates will welcome him with open arms.
"I just can't wait until he comes back," junior offensive lineman
George Aquino said. "I was so worried when he went down, and all the
players were just shocked. He's in great shape and he went through
Hell Week perfectly fine last year, so it's really weird that this
could happen."
