Young man dies

[bryan]

Associated Press
COLUMBUS, Ga. -- Jed Bedford, a prolific 3-point shooter who captained Columbus State's basketball team, died Sunday about an hour after collapsing during a practice.


Bedford, 21, was taken to St. Francis Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The Muscogee County Coroner told university officials that cardiac arrest was the cause of death.


"One of my greatest fears as a coach was realized today," Columbus State coach Herbert Greene said. "These players are like family to me and to each other. It's hard to even comprehend how something like this could happen."


Bedford, a senior from Leesburg, Fla., led NCAA Division II with 135 3-pointers last season. This season, he was averaging 21.4 points. He had 13 points, 11 assists and seven steals in his last game, a victory over North Carolina-Pembroke on Dec. 6.


"This is a terrible tragedy, the kind that we all hope we never have to deal with," Columbus State president Frank Brown said. "Jed was a well-known student athlete who represented the university well."


Columbus State has indefinitely postponed its home game scheduled for Tuesday night against North Carolina Central.

[SharonBates]

May God bring peace to the family of Jed Bedford, his teammates, coaches and students of Columbus State University. The loss of another young life is tragic and painful for everyone here at the HCMA. We cry with the family and know that his life, how ever short, will not be in vain.

God Bless Jed Bedford! May he rest in peace and be filled with God's love forever and ever.

Amen

[bryan]

Autopsy indicates enlarged heart
Preliminary tests show CSU star died of cardiomegaly ventricular hypertrophy
From staff reports

Preliminary autopsy results released Tuesday showed that Columbus State University basketball player Jed Bedford died of a condition called cardiomegaly ventricular hypertrophy, or an enlarged heart with an enlarged left ventricle.

Muscogee County coroner James Dunnavant said it's something the CSU star was probably born with.

"It was most likely hereditary, and he just never knew he had it," Dunnavant said. "We see it a lot in young people -- sometimes even much younger than this young man. It's something people grow out of sometimes and something that causes a lot of problems for people who play sports."

Dunnavant said certain tests can be done to diagnose the condition. But such tests are usually done only when a patient makes complaints consistent with heart problems like shortness of breath, chest pains or fainting. Because Bedford never complained and had no family history of heart problems, no one knew to test him.

"Most people just never realize they have it," Dunnavant said.

Bedford, 21, collapsed Sunday afternoon around 4 p.m. during practice at Columbus State's Lumpkin Center. He was transported by ambulance to St. Francis Hospital and pronounced dead at 5:03.

Bedford's family held visitation at Sconiers Funeral Home in Columbus on Tuesday, and the body was to have been flown to Orlando, Fla., today. The funeral will take place at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Leesburg High School auditorium in Bedford's hometown of Leesburg, Fla. The Columbus State men's basketball team will be able to attend.

Columbus State coach Herbert Greene worked with University of North Florida officials to alter the schedule for the UNF Holiday Classic in Jacksonville. CSU was originally scheduled to play Friday and Saturday. CSU will instead play Caldwell College at 6 p.m. Thursday and Green Mountain College at 5 p.m. Friday.

The Cougars practiced Tuesday for the first time since the tragic incident.

Meanwhile, Columbus State announced Tuesday that Bedford's jersey will be retired during a brief ceremony before the Cougars' Jan. 14 home game against North Florida. The ceremony had been planned for Dec. 29, but school officials changed the date to ensure that all students, faculty, staff, and fans would be able to attend after the holiday break.

The Jan. 14 game is the first home contest after school resumes in January and all students will be back for classes.

[Lisa Salberg]

God bless Jed.

Our thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends and team mates.

Peace,
Lisa

[Bill]

Hope this isn't a dumb question, but is "cardiomegaly ventricular hypertrophy" the same thing as HCM?

Bill

[Sarah]

it is a descriptor for when they don't know the cause. cardiomegaly literally means "big heart." so it could be an enlarged heart overall with left ventricular hypertrophy which could be HCM but has a chance of being something else.

[Lisa Salberg]

It may be HCM or some other cause that makes the heart "larger" than it should be.
Lisa

[Darren1]

Doesn't being competitive in athletics often cause an enlarged heart? Even for those without HCM? How do they tell the difference?

[Reenie]

To determine the difference of athlete's heart and HCM in autopsies they would probably do a biopsy or somehow study the cellular structure of the heart. Athlete's heart is simply caused by exercise. HCM is caused by cellular disarray. It's obvious under a microscope, if you look at the part of the muscle that is out of whack. However, HCM causes pockets of disarray, it's not across the board. Hope this helps explain it.

Reenie

[Darren1]

Thanks Reenie, I think that helps.

[Reenie]

Any time. Hope you have a good weekend.

Reenie

[Lisa Salberg]

There are a few ways of telling the difference - it is not done by biopsy as you may actually take unaffected tissue dueing the biopsy thereby giving you a false result. The degree of hypertrophy, the pattern of hypertophy, symptoms, family history and the function of the heart are all used to help figure out if it is HCM or not.

Lisa

[Reenie]

Thanks for clearing that up, Lisa. I'm always happy to learn something new.

Reenie