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On May 1st, 2024… a special meeting took place in West Palm Beach Florida between three youth baseball players who experienced and survived commotio cordis… the second leading cause of death in youth sports. The boys gathered together with their families, friends, and teammates for a very fun & healing evening.
All three of these incidents happen during a youth baseball game. All the boys were playing different positions on the field, and all happen within the state of Florida within one year of each other.
Raylan… was struck in the left chest by a pitched ball while batting.
Oscar… was struck in the chest by a fly ball while playing Centerfield.
And Junior… was struck in the chest as a runner by a pitcher’s throw to second base.
The healing process has not occurred overnight for the affected players, families or teams. They came together to share their stories, meet the other families, and to help each other recover from these dramatic episodes involving their children.
The parents and coaches spoke of the importance of AED’s at youth sporting events, getting CPR training, and the use of protective gear to help prevent this injury from ever occurring.
Commotio cordis is the same tragic event that a professional foot ball player experienced on live TV during a Monday Night game. Similarly… he was also struck in the chest, although by a helmet, at just the wrong moment in the heart’s rhythm, which caused his heart’s catastrophic failure.
Cordis is heart, and commotio is commotion, so it’s a commotion of the heart. This is a tragic unfortunate event that happens to normal healthy kids when they’re struck in the chest. A child’s rib cage is more flexible than an adult’s, which means a sudden blow to the chest could actually cause the ribs to touch the heart. That allows the energy of the ball to be transmitted to the heart. If the blow hits it at just the right moment, a window of time 15 times shorter than the blink of an eye, the heart will go into ventricular fibrillation. Blood will stop flowing to the brain, causing it to expire within 5 minutes.
Also attending was Unequal Technologies, developers of the Hart Shirt, which utilizes proven padding technology that helps reduce the risk of commotio cordis.
Unequal was able to offer these protective shirts to the most recent team to have witnessed their teammate go down. The shirts were in action as the children played a stress-free and fun game of kickball.
As a result of Oscar’s incident… the Oscar Strong Foundation was formed. It’s mission is to raise awareness of Commotio Cordis in youth sports; to educate people on how to respond utilizing CPR and an AED; and to bring awareness of available protective gear to help safeguard and minimize the risk.
