At 25 years old, Omar Carter was in the best physical condition of his life. The former Appalachian State star basketball player had just finished a professional season in the Dominican Republic before his life changed in a matter of minutes.
During a semi-professional basketball game, just as he was sprinting down the court on a fast break, Carter collapsed and suffered a 13-minute sudden cardiac arrest (SCA). “There were no warning signs. No chest pain. Just some light-headedness,” Omar explained. “My friend passed me the ball. I passed it back. And that’s when I collapsed.”
As the name implies, SCA is unexpected heart malfunction – different from a heart attack – which causes the heart to suddenly stop beating.
More than 400,000 Americans suffer from an out-of-hospital SCA each year, according to the American Heart Association. The Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation says about nine out of 10 people with this kind of cardiac arrest will die. Carter’s chances of survival were less than 10 percent.
Unfortunately, Carter’s chances of experiencing SCA at such a young age were actually high.
A new study found that Black Americans, particularly Black men, are more likely to suffer SCA than whites and at a younger age.
Carter lived to tell about his experience and is educating others about heart disease through his OC Foundation. He spoke with BlackDoctor.org, joined by Dr. Rohit Mehta, his physician and a leading cardiologist at Carolinas HealthCare System’s Sanger Heart & Vascular Institute, and shared his incredible story, information about SCA and discussed the importance of screening and prevention, as well as current treatment options.
Check out his video interview above.
For more information on SCA and resources, visit ocfoundationinc.org or sicd.org.
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