A young man playing college football at Jackson State University in Mississippi, a sophomore named Kaseem Vauls, collapsed after feeling ill and complaining of stomach pains. After collapsing, he was rushed to the hospital and had to undergo an “emergency procedure.” The stomach pains and collapse were due to cardiac arrest.
Kaseem’s father, William Vauls, tweeted to friends and family about the incident and his son’s health on Thursday. According to Mr. Vauls, his son was at the University of Mississippi Medical Center and was “heavily sedated” after the emergency surgical procedure. In his words:
Hey Everyone this is William, Kaseem father the emergency procedure went well but it is still heavily sedated. The doctors said he progressing they will gradually lower down his medication he on and the lower down the input of the machine he on gradually, which is a good sign
The machine is so his organs can rest and not work so hard. Then they will lower down the sedation so he can wake up on his own but that might be until day 4 on the machine. I greatly appreciate all you guys for out pour of love and prayers and phone calls and support for my son!
All of y’all are truly a blessing. Thank you so much..🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾
William also spoke to the Clarion Ledger about his son’s health situation. In his words “What the doctors think happened [is] that when Kaseem’s heart was failing, that what was giving him the stomach pains. His liver was suffering as fluid built up with toxins in his liver, kidneys and blood. All those toxins built up in his blood stream and his heart could not operate properly and the machine is being used to clean out the blood and toxins.”
That same report notes that Kaseem had been feeling ill for weeks and that, when he was taken to the emergency room, his heart was barely functioning. In its words:
William Vauls said his son had not been feeling well for a couple of weeks, and that he had told his son to go to the emergency room. He also said Kaseem had been participating in activities with the football team but had not told coaches or trainers about stomach pains.
[…]
Kaseem Vauls went to the hospital Wednesday morning and William Vauls said a cardiologist told him his son’s heart was functioning at 10-15%.
It is unclear, however, what caused the problem that led to Kaseem’s cardiac arrest. William suggested that it might be genetic, as Kaseem was diagnosed with atrial fibrillation (A-fib) seven years ago.
Numerous other young athletes have suffered heart problems recently, with many of them dying suddenly from those conditions despite their apparent good health and high level of fitness thanks to their playing sports in college or professionally. No explanation for what has been going on with those young, healthy athletes dying suddenly has yet been provided.
By: Will Tanner. Follow me on Twitter @Will_Tanner_1
"*" indicates required fields