Mikhail Torrance Rushed To ICU After Collapsing On Court

[spectre]

http://nba.fanhouse.com/2010/08/20/mikhail-torrance-rushed-to-icu-after-collapsing-on-court/


BRADENTON, FLA -- Mikhail Torrance (http://www.fanhouse.com/tag/Mikhail+Torrance/), former University of Alabama basketball star who recently signed a contract to play professionally in Israel, was rushed to a hospital after collapsing at the start of a workout today. He was unconscious while being rushed to nearby Blake Memorial Hospital in Bradenton, Fla.

Torrance was on the court at the IMG Basketball Academy. He has been transferred to the Intensive Care Unit at nearby Sarasota Memorial Hospital. A spokesperson said the hospital could not release any information on Torrance's condition. A spokesperson from IMG has not returned a phone message.

A source close to the family said that Torrance was in critical condition, breathing with the aid of a ventilator.

His parents are flying in from Birmingham on Friday night.

It was well known throughout his college career that Torrance had issues with his heart, but it never stopped him from playing. He believed the heart issue was why he went undrafted by the NBA in June, even though he had passed all physicals during the league's pre-draft period.

He played with the Miami Heat's Summer League team, but he was released before they started playing games in Las Vegas.

Torrance said several times he had "an athlete's heart," which he described as "just a little bit bigger,'' than most.

Torrance was only five minutes into a light workout of shooting when he suddenly collapsed, hitting his head on the floor when he fell.

Several trainers came to his aid immediately. Paramedics arrived on the scene soon afterward, and continued trying to revive him. Torrance soon stopped breathing, and he was taken by stretcher to a nearby hospital while paramedics continued giving him CPR.

Torrance was expected to be leaving soon for Israel, where he had signed signed a contract to play for powerhouse Maccabi Tel Aviv.

Torrance had finished his senior year at Alabama this spring, averaging 32 minutes and 15 points per game.

He had been cleared to play in the NBA after attending the league's pre-draft camp in May.

He was part of the Miami Heat's Summer League team, but they opted not to bring him back for camp this fall, which prompted him to sign with Maccabi Tel Aviv.

Torrance was not drafted, despite an outstanding career at Alabama. And he told several people he felt the reason he went undrafted was because of the issue with his heart.

Torrance had been working out at IMG since Wednesday.

Thoughts and prayers.

[BlockParty]

Prayers for Mikhail and his family.

If the NCAA won't pay players in Football and Basketball, at the very least they should use some of the billions of dollars generated and provide mandatory extensive health exams to help identify players with enlarged hearts. I realize that may not be the issue in this case, but there are handful of players that would be diagnosised each year, their careers may end, but their lives would not.

[rsxnova]

My prayers go out to him and his family

[teej]

Holy shit. Praying for everyone in Mikhail's circle.



If the NCAA won't pay players in Football and Basketball, at the very least they should use some of the billions of dollars generated and provide mandatory extensive health exams to help identify players with enlarged hearts. I realize that may not be the issue in this case, but there are handful of players that would be diagnosised each year, their careers may end, but their lives would not.

Totally agreed. Gaines Adams had the same issue just a few months ago.

I totally believe in paying players, since they're already getting some money from agents and their rights are being abused. But a lifetime athletic health insurance policy is not that hard to set up for these guys.

[Plowright]

http://nba.fanhouse.com/2010/08/20/alabamas-mikhail-torrance-battles-for-life-after-collapse-on-co/

Holy shit man! Hope he gets better! Now we know why we passed on him i guess...

[Toocool]

All the best to Mikhail and his family.
While we're at it, could it be somewhat similar to Stuckey's collapse?

[G-Force]

Wow... that's serious. I hope all will be well for M. Torrence.

I really like the guy and wanted to see him in the NBA, with the Bobcats. Hopefully he can bounce back and become stronger.

[SWedd523]

Stuckey had a siezure, so they're unalike.


*Threads merged*

[BlockParty]

Update on Mikhail...Seems they put him in a coma (to stablize him) http://nba.fanhouse.com/2010/08/21/mikhail-torrance-in-critical-but-stable-condition/ and they've been trying to get him to wake up, and hoping for no brain damage.

This is his agent's Twitter feed.
http://twitter.com/Happywalters


At this point - this is the most important thing. Will try to keep every1 updated 2morro as well... :-) 35 minutes ago (http://twitter.com/Happywalters/status/21875438589) via web

Not yet responding to commands, but there is some movement in arms and legs. We hope he will wake up so doctors can assess brain function. 36 minutes ago (http://twitter.com/Happywalters/status/21875355719) via web

Mikhail Torrance update: Doctors have lowered mikhail's body temp to normal. Waiting for him to wake up. Family is talking to him. 38 minutes ago (http://twitter.com/Happywalters/status/21875279276) via web

when paramedics arrived With God's help, there will be no brain damage. will keep evry1 in loop. Pls keep khail and his fam in prayers. 2:32 PM Aug 21st (http://twitter.com/Happywalters/status/21772462691) via web

brain function. The staff at IMG attended to him within 2 minutes and administered CPR. He had a heartbeat and was breathing on his own 2:30 PM Aug 21st (http://twitter.com/Happywalters/status/21772393755) via web

He is stable and in an induced coma. His heart is fine. The Doctors are going to bring him out of his coma tonight in order to evaluate 2:30 PM Aug 21st (http://twitter.com/Happywalters/status/21772359392) via web

As many of you may have heard, one of our players, Mikhail Torrance, is seriously ill. There are many reports that are inaccurate. 2:29 PM Aug 21st (http://twitter.com/Happywalters/status/21772315391) via web

[ND22]

Oh man, I hope he recovers. I wonder what the issue is if it wasn't his heart.

[rsxnova]

Wow, that coma stuff is crazy. I hope continues to recover.

[BlockParty]

Still not recent update, this update is 2 days old, but does provide information that Mikhail's condition is the same as what ultimately lead to Hank Gaithers death on the court back in the glory days of Loyola Marymount (remember Bo Kimble?)

http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?story_id=17144

here is cut n paste of the part on Mikhail...kinda makes you wonder why he continued to play (not that the 5 minute workout was strenuous).

"As some of you may have heard, our good friend Mikhail Torrance collapsed on Friday (http://nba.fanhouse.com/2010/08/20/alabamas-mikhail-torrance-battles-for-life-after-collapse-on-co) while training at the IMG Basketball Academy in Bradenton, Florida.

Mikhail is a very good kid. He has a great personality. He is an amazing basketball player; in fact I'd argue he was the second-best point guard in this year's draft.

Mikhail graduated from Mary G. Montgomery High School, in Eight Mile, Alabama. He was a four-year player at Alabama where he averaged 15.6 points per game and just over five assists per game.

Coming out of Alabama he was barely on the NBA radar as most teams viewed him as a shooting guard.

Mikhail had a stellar Portsmouth Tournament and really showed teams that he could run a team as a point guard, and at a legit 6'6 he started to gain a lot of interest around the league.

Mikhail was invited to work out for more than a dozen NBA teams including Indiana, Detroit, Miami and New York. A number of those teams talked about acquiring late first-round draft picks to secure him in the draft.
Mikhail had been diagnosed with "Athletes Heart" - athletic bradycardia - which is a common enlarging of the heart due to extreme training. It's not life threatening, but is something that is monitored on a regular basis and is common among endurance athletes.

Mikhail never had any problems; he was medically cleared every year by Alabama so he never thought anything of it.

He even cleared the NBA's Combine testing without an issue.
Enter the New York Knicks.

The Knicks do a more thorough heart test as part of their medical evaluation and Mikhail was flagged as having a predisposition to ventricular tachycardia - the same thing that killed Hank Gathers.
Once word got out that Mikhail could have this condition, his draft stock dropped through the floor and he ultimately went undrafted.

A few teams said they'd consider signing him if he passed genetic testing - which he passed. Everything seemed like it was going to blow over. Offers started coming in and ultimately Mikhail signed in Israel with Maccabi Tel Aviv, and his dream of playing professional basketball was going to come true.

Early last week he started light workouts at IMG, he'd been doing light cardio and basically getting shots up when he just collapsed.

Tim Povtak from Fanhouse was there to talk with Sasha Vujacic, and just happened to catch up with Mikhail as he waited for Sasha. Mikhail walked away from Tim and got up about a dozen shots and was taking a water break and just collapsed.

The IMG trainers rushed over to him and administered CPR and kept CPR going until the Paramedics got there and that likely saved his life.
Had he been at a local gym or a Rec center, he'd likely be dead today.
Mikhail is doing better today. His vitals are strong. He is breathing on his own. He was in a medically induced coma, which they are bringing him out of today. The fear of brain damage is somewhat lower because of the outstanding reaction at IMG, but until he is conscious and they can do testing it is still a big unknown.

Mikhail is in the ICU and he's still listed in critical condition, but he's better today and the hope is he'll be even better tomorrow and make a recovery from this.

The thing about it is it could have happened walking across the street. Mikhail is really lucky it happened where there were people who knew what to do.

Those IMG guys likely saved his life.


Read more NBA news and insight: http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?story_id=17144#ixzz0xXfggUYv

[BlockParty]

Scary stuff...from his agent's tweeter

wake up sooner rather than later. Doctors are taking it slowly. 43 minutes ago (http://twitter.com/Happywalters/status/22024829819) via web

Mikhail Torrance is doing better. We are all optimistic. He had a CT scan and it came back negative so everyone is hopeful that he will 44 minutes ago (http://twitter.com/Happywalters/status/22024790938) via web

[ohara831]

Wow! Just saw this now. I know many here really wanted him to sign on with the Cats. Guess the team's doctors who checked him out know that he was pushing his luck. Good thoughts, hopes and prayers out to him and his family. Forget basketball. Just live man, just live.

[BlockParty]

After a couple days asleep...Mikhail is awake (sorta)...from his agent's twitter account. http://twitter.com/Happywalters (http://twitter.com/Happywalters)

recognize some things. This is great news and everyone is excited. We hope that he will be able to follow some commands soon! about 2 hours ago (http://twitter.com/Happywalters/status/22307198432) via web

Mikhail Torrance update: Improving every day. A therapist is working with him. He is opening his eyes. Trying to focus. Starting to about 2 hours ago (http://twitter.com/Happywalters/status/22307136219) via web

[ohara831]

Great news. Kid just needs to forget about athletics and focus on living. I am sure he has lots of friends and family who care more about his being with them than on the court.

[BlockParty]

Really positive info today from Mikhail's agent (it's been a little over a week since his incident).

he will be able to leave ICU and go to a private room. All ur prayers and good wishes are working! Myself and family thank every1 so much about 3 hours ago (http://twitter.com/Happywalters/status/22386982354) via web

starting to focus on objects. Dctrs pinched him and he grimmaced, an improvement from a few days ago when he showed no emotions. Tomorrow about 3 hours ago (http://twitter.com/Happywalters/status/22386942639) via web

Great news on Mikhail Torrance. He walked today! He had assistance, but he followed commands! He knows his right from his left, and he is about 3 hours ago (http://twitter.com/Happywalters/status/22386899448) via web