Raising Awareness for Isaiah
What athletic directors and coaches need to know to keep their athletes with sickle cell trait safe.
Sickle Cell Trait
Isaiah Didn't Have to Die
On September 4, 2020, Isaiah Turner, a gifted high school athlete, talented student and much-loved friend, teammate, son and brother, collapsed and died on his high school football field after experiencing the warning signs of an exertional sickle cell crisis during a preseason football practice. Although Isaiah’s mother had informed his high school in writing for three consecutive years that Isaiah was a carrier of the Sickle Cell Trait (SCT), the school’s athletic and medical staff remained uninformed of the deadly risk that the SCT can pose to student athletes if proper precautions are not taken, and staff failed to recognize that Isaiah’s symptoms required an emergency response.
Tragically, Isaiah is but one in a long line of student athletes with the Sickle Cell Trait — particularly football players — who have died unnecessarily due to this very preventable and treatable condition.
The "Raising Awareness for Isaiah" campaign honors Isaiah's memory by raising awareness of the condition and educating high school athletic directors, trainers, coaches, parents, and athletes as to how to address and mitigate the serious health risks posed to student athletes who are SCT carriers.
No other young athlete should die a preventable death.
The Science Behind It
The Sickle Cell Trait
The Sickle Cell Trait is an inherited blood disorder which can result in the “sickling” of red blood cells. Though it impacts persons of all ethnicities, it is most prevalent in people of color, affecting up to one in every 11 individuals. In most cases there are no symptoms until or unless an acute crisis arises, typically due to the combination of heat and exertion.
- Of 136 sudden, non-traumatic sports deaths in high school and college athletes over a decade, 5 percent were due to exertional sickling. - June 27, 2007 National Athletic Trainers' Association "Sickle Cell Trait and the Athlete" Consensus Statement
- The most feared adverse outcome of SCT is exercise-associated collapse and/or death. - "Sickle Cell Trait – Why the Concern in High School Sports," By Yvette Rooks, M.D., CAQ, FAAFP on October 09, 2018
- In college athletes, deaths associated with SCT have occurred almost exclusively in football. Football student-athletes with SCT have
collapsed and died more often than players with any other condition. - "Sickle Cell Trait – Why the Concern in High School Sports," By Yvette Rooks, M.D., CAQ, FAAFP on October 09, 2018
What Athletic Directors & Coaches Need to Do
Know Your Athletes and the Warning Signs
Condition Safely and Manage the Symptoms
Get Emergency Assistance, If Necessary