Bentonville Player Home After Collapsing During Practice

By Tom Glave

Posted: January 31, 2010 at 8:18 a.m.

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BENTONVILLE — Bentonville junior baseball player Wes Busby collapsed during practice Jan. 21, and the quick response by his coaches and teammates helped save his life.

Busby returned home Thursday after spending nearly a week at the Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock and is doing well, his father Murray Busby said Friday.

After running several tests, doctors at ACH believe Wes Busby has Long QT Syndrome, a heart condition associated with ventricular arrhythmias. He had surgery last week to place an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator, which will help the heart return to normal function if another arrhythmia should occur.

Busby, 17, has a checkup appointment this week in Little Rock and plans to return to school on Feb. 8. Busby will not be able to return to competitive athletics.

“God had his hand on things and things happened just like they were supposed to,” Murray Busby said. “We’re very thankful for that.”

Doctors told Busby his son went into cardiac arrest when he collapsed, and actions of those at the Tiger Athletic Complex that day saved his life.

“A lot of things had to happen just right,” he said. “If it would have been a situation where nobody knew what was going on, nobody knew what was happening and just stood there, he wouldn’t be with us today. I’m not going to try to sugarcoat it or anything, because there were a lot of good people there that took care of him until the EMTs got there and took over.”

Wes Busby collapsed as the Tigers ran during a warmup for practice. A teammate standing near Busby found a faint and erratic heartbeat. Assistant baseball coach Curt Yarrington and athletic trainer Laura Wilson started CPR while baseball coach Todd Abbott called 911.

Emergency medical technicians arrived within five minutes and used a defibrillator to stabilize Busby’s heartbeat.

“I don’t think (the response) could have been any better,” Abbott said. “I think everybody kept a level head and did what they had to do and worked together. It is such a blessing that it happened that way.”

Busby was taken to Northwest Medical Center where he was kept stable and eventually taken to ACH by ambulance later that night.

Busby was one of three high school-aged athletes in the state to collapse in a week’s time. Little Rock Parkview sophomore Chris Winston, 15, collapsed during a basketball game on Jan. 19. He was revived and was in the same wing at ACH as Busby. Matthew Crumpton, 15 and of Heber Springs, died on Jan. 15 after collapsing during a Cleburne County Christian basketball game.

Comments

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All of our schools need to have emergency defibrillators available. Defibrillators were purchased for schools while we were in Iowa after a young baseball player and football player both collapsed and died in our small community within months of each other.

The defibrillators are now carried to games and practices and this last fall saved a young man's life!

We have wonderful schools and athletic programs in this area. We need to invest in our children's safety by encouraging our athletic departments to purchase this life saving equipment.

Posted by: FOXESDEN

January 31, 2010 at 1:21 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

Now that this young man HAS the defibrillator, he needs to wear an id bracelet or necklace stating he has one. Not real sure what would happen if he were to collapse and they shocked him again. Just a warning

Posted by: forJustice

January 31, 2010 at 7:20 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

We live in Fayetteville, AR and my daughter collapsed at school and was diagnosed with Long Q-T Syndrome in 2007 and had an ICD implanted. The Fayetteville School District purchased ICD's for their whole school community. My daughter just transferred to another high school here in Fayetteville, and immediately they purchased an AED for their school community. Awareness, education and health screening is a big step in the right direction. It is not easy for a child to live with this diagnosis or have to live with an ICD, nevertheless, they can live active and productive lives. SADS is a great organization helping families deal with potentially fatal sudden arrhythmia death syndromes (SADS) which are genetic heart conditions that can cause sudden death in young, apparently healthy people. These conditions can be treated and deaths can be prevented. Warning Signs: family history of unexpected, unexplained sudden death; fainting or seizure during exercise, excitement or startle; consistent or unusual chest pain &/or shortness of breath during exercise, www.sads.org/

Posted by: GWE

February 2, 2010 at 12:55 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

I meant AED's purchased for the Fayetteville school district, not ICD's

Posted by: GWE

February 2, 2010 at 12:58 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )