Tribute to Whitney Elizabeth Houston

Whitney has given us so many great songs throughout her illustrious career. The lyrics of "I Look to You", this one is so prophetic:

"My levee's have broken, my walls have come crumbling down on me" tonight you are finally free of all the pain.

"The rain is falling, defeat is calling I need you to set me free", God answers every call and tonight your call has been answered,

"Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah" if only Whitney had stuck to that 1st solo performance in the church may be the end would be different.

Only last month, I Googled her name to check to see how she was doing as I remembered her. It hurts to see how her life spiraled out of control.

In life, it only takes one struggle or bad decision to find yourself on the path to destruction. I am reminded by Matthew 7:13 and reflect on those words - "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it".

Let's therefore take stock and remember that we're all here on borrowed time no matter what we do or achieved eat a huge serving of "humble pie" because it's not in our control.

God our Father, Your power brings us to birth, Your providence guides our lives,and by Your command we return to dust.

Lord, those who die still live in Your presence, their lives change but do not end, R.I.P. Whitney "I will always love you".

Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy - Sudden Death in Young Athletes

When a young athlete now known to the world as Jair Dynast, pronounced Jah-Air Die-Nast, was diagnosed in 1998 with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, it ended his promising basketball career. Jair had played basketball from around 1987 and developed on the court as an intense point guard. He had had numerous physical examinations throughout his playing career and never had any heart abnormality present in any of his tests results.

It was at Prep School, Milford Academy, CT in a damp, moldy room that he noticed he was constantly sick (upper respiratory conditions). One day during a game, he felt so sick that he vomited and had to be pulled from the game. This passed and he was later granted a full athletic scholarship at South Plains College, TX to study Engineering.

During his first year of play, he was preparing to run "the mile for time" and found that he could not complete it in the time in spite of pushing himself physically. He complained of experiencing a severe burning in his chest. He underwent an examination by the team's doctor - it was felt he could have asthma so he was given various medication in puffers but his condition didn't improve.

In December 1998, he returned to his hometown, Toronto to consult local physicians. He had an electrocardiogram and there was a significant abnormality in the reading. His family physician referred him to a cardiologist near his home. The consulting doctor was so concerned that the news would end Jair's career as a basketball player that he wanted a second opinion from the top cardiac specialist. This specialist said he saw his first case of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy back in the '60s as a young graduate from the University of Toronto.

These details are being recounted to give an account of how mysterious and unforeseen this heart condition can be. It can develop suddenly - environmental factors may contribute to it but it's still uncertain in Jair's case what caused his hypertrophic cardiomyopathy to develop. Was he the lucky one? Definitely, he could have been one of the statistics for sudden death on the basketball court. Jair is now an emcee-producer and narrates his story about the sudden death of young athletes in his song; "Struggle" to bring worldwide awareness of this disease to High School basketball coaches, student-athletes and underground hip hop fans.



Parents, guardians, caregivers and coaches of young student-athletes need to be aware, be educated (the Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Association is a good resource for information about this disease) and look for any sign of abnormality in an otherwise healthy teenage athlete that is participating in sporting activities.