Heart Condition and Death
Gathers' first sign of trouble came on Saturday, December 9, 1989, when he collapsed at the free-throw line during an LMU home game against UCSB.
He was found to have an abnormal heartbeat (exercise-induced ventricular tachycardia), and was prescribed a beta blocker, Inderal. However, Gathers felt that the medication adversely affected his play, and he soon cut back on his dosage. As the West Coast Conference (WCC) Tournament neared, Gathers did not show up for repeated appointments to test if the reduced medication was still suppressing the arrhythmias. It was suspected Gathers was not taking any dosage on game days.
On Sunday, March 4, 1990, in Los Angeles, he collapsed again with 13:34 left in the first half of the WCC tournament quarterfinal game against Portland, just after scoring on his trademark tomahawk dunk on an alley-oop pass pass from point guard Terrell Lowery that put the Lions up 25–13. He collapsed a yard or two away from the current head coach of the Miami Heat, Erik Spoelstra, then a point guard for the Pilots. He attempted to get up, telling the trainers, "I don't want to lay down!", then shortly after stopped breathing. He was declared dead on arrival at a nearby hospital at the age of 23. An autopsy found that he suffered from a heart-muscle disorder, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
Following his death, Gathers' family filed a $32.5-million lawsuit charging negligence. Loyola Marymount settled out of court for $1.4 million, while the cardiologist who treated Gathers settled for $1 million.
Read more about this topic: Hank Gathers
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