It’s rare that athletes who suffer from cardiac arrest survive and return to playing. Bronny James may have the chance to do just that.

Bronny, the son of LeBron James and an incoming freshman at USC had his heart stop at a basketball practice on Tuesday. After going unconscious, he was rushed to Cedars Sinai hospital in Los Angeles and has since been discharged. Now, his road to recovery begins.

Cardiac arrest in young athletes is not new; nor is it believed to be something brought about because of the COVID vaccine. Even prior to the pandemic, cardiac arrest was the most common cause of death in young athletes – with estimates saying about 1 in 40,000 to 1 in 80,000 youth athletes suffer from sudden cardiac death each year.

But Bronny James is not one of those deaths. Rather, thanks to quick actions from USC staff, he is alive and may look to make a return to the court. In doing so, he’d be following in the footsteps of a select few athletes who have ever done so.

DailyMail.com looks at who Bronny James could be following should he choose to come back and play the sport he loves once again.

Vincent Iwuchukwu 

This list begins in the same place that James suffered his cardiac arrest – and this only happened a year ago.

7-foot tall USC basketball player Vincent Iwuchukwu was practicing at the school’s Galen Center on July 1, 2022 after not sleeping well the night before. 

USC assistant coach, Eric Mobley – father of Cavaliers star Evan Mobley – noticed Iwuchukwu grabbed a rebound without the aggressiveness he normally does. Mobley noted the center didn’t look right and within seconds of sitting down, Iwuchukwu started convulsing and losing motor function. 

His heart was shocked back to life with a defibrillator and he was taken to a hospital for four days worth of testing and treatment. Upon release, Iwuchukwu was kept away from physical activity for three weeks.

After months of getting him back into playing shape, he made his debut with the Trojans – playing five minutes off the bench in a win over Colorado. He ended up finishing the season averaging 5.4 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 14 minutes a game.

Chris Pronger

By far the most accomplished player on this list, Stanley Cup champion, two-time Olympic Gold Medalist and Hockey Hall-of-Famer Chris Pronger went down on the ice in 1998.

It was in the midst of the Stanley Cup playoffs that Pronger was hit in the chest with a puck against the Detroit Red Wings. His heart stopped beating due to commotio cordis – where blunt force disrupts the heart’s rhythm – and he collapsed onto the ice.

But miraculously, Pronger’s heart started beating again on its own – meaning the defenseman did not require CPR or defibrillation.

After receiving further treatment, Pronger returned to the ice for the next game of the series just two days later.

Pronger would go on to play another 13 seasons in the NHL. In that time, he would be named to six All-Star teams and would win the Hart Trophy as MVP of the league as well as the Norris Trophy for best defenseman – both in the year 2000. In 2007, he would win the Stanley Cup as a member of the Anaheim Ducks.

Keyontae Johnson

In December of 2020, Keyontae Johnson – a junior who played for the University of Florida Gators basketball team – was in the midst of a rivalry game against Florida State.

But early in the contest, he too collapsed on the court. Johnson was rushed to Tallahassee Memorial Hospital and placed in a medically induced coma for three days before returning to the UF campus in Gainesville.

He was diagnosed with Athlete’s Heart Syndrome, which is an increase in cardiac mass as a result of prolonged and systematic training. Doctors told him he might never play again.

Johnson did indeed get healthy enough to return – but did not return to a regular starting role. He transferred to Kansas State, where he was a key player for coach Jerome Tang as the Wildcats made an exciting run to the Elite Eight this season.

All that culminated in this year’s NBA Draft – where the Oklahoma City Thunder selected Johnson with the 50th overall pick in the second round. He was signed to a two-way contract on July 7.

Christian Eriksen

On one of the biggest stages in world football, in his home nation, Denmark’s star player Christian Eriksen went down – triggering a national nightmare.

It was during a UEFA Euro 2020 match against Finland in Copenhagen just before halftime when the star midfielder fell to the ground due to sudden cardiac arrest. His teammates screamed for medical staff to help him as Eriksen’s heart had stopped for five minutes.

Upon arrival, medics performed CPR and used an AED on the field before he was eventually taken off on a stretcher. About an hour after the incident happened, the Danish Football Association said that he had stabilized and was awake in the hospital. 

The game was then forced to resume, resulting in a Danish victory. Eriksen eventually received an implanted cardioverter-defibrillator to regulate his heartbeat and prevent further attacks. 

Eriksen returned to full health, but wasn’t allowed to play for his then-club Inter Milan due to Serie A rules preventing him because of the device implanted in his heart. He then moved to Brentford in January 2022 before signing a three-year deal with Manchester United that July. 

Damar Hamlin

Finally, a return to the field that has not happened yet – but is in progress.

On January 2, 2023 – in a highly anticipated Monday Night Football game between the Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals – Bills safety Damar Hamlin made a tackle on Bengals receiver Tee Higgins.

Hamlin took blunt trauma to the chest during the tackle – leading to commotio cordis and the stopping of his heart. First responders rushed to the field, initiating CPR and defibrillation before rushing him to the hospital. 

While in the hospital, Hamlin was sedated for a number of days – but his heartbeat was restored on the field. Three days after being admitted, he was awake. By the next day, he was breathing on his own. 

After a week’s worth of tests and monitoring by doctors in Cincinnati, Hamlin was discharged and flown to Buffalo General Medical Center. There, he underwent more tests before being fully discharged.

Hamlin was medically cleared to return to the NFL in April of 2023. He continues to train with his team in preparation for the upcoming season.

First the anti-vaxxers jumped on Christian Eriksen, alleging the Covid vaccines were to blame when the Danish footballer suffered a cardiac arrest at Euro 2020. 

Then, less than 12 months later, they claimed Pfizer‘s ‘clot shot’ was behind Australian cricket icon Shane Warne‘s sudden heart-related death.

And when NFL safety Damar Hamlin suffered a cardiac arrest during a Buffalo Bills match in January, so-called ‘truthers’ brandished it as the icing on their Covid conspiracy cake.

Now, however, the anti-vaxx mob have a new target: Bronny James, son of legendary NBA hooper LeBron.  

The 18-year-old, expected to follow in his father’s footsteps, was rushed to hospital on Monday after suffering a cardiac arrest during practice at the University of Southern California.

Despite it being unconfirmed when, or if, Bronny had a Covid jab, critics were quick to establish a potential link.

Even Elon Musk chipped in, fuelling the conspiracy even further. 

Posting on Twitter under a news story about Bronny’s cardiac arrest, Musk wrote: ‘We cannot ascribe everything to the vaccine, but, by the same token, we cannot ascribe nothing. Myocarditis is a known side-effect. The only question is whether it is rare or common.’

But leading doctors have dismissed the theory.

Two facts — both of which are widely misinterpreted — are central to the claims. 

One is that mRNA jabs, like Pfizer’s and Moderna’s, can cause myocarditis, an extremely rare complication that causes inflammation of the heart muscle. Young people, especially boys, are most at risk.

The other? That heart-related deaths are massively above levels seen pre-pandemic. 

Cardiologists and heart health charities say conflating the two is not only incorrect, but irresponsible. 

No drug is risk-free. And while there is a very small chance of developing myocarditis from a Covid vaccine, experts insist the benefits, in the form of the tens of thousands of lives saved, clearly outweigh any potential dangers. 

Myocarditis can, in some cases, damage the pumping function of the heart, leading to disturbance issues later in life.  

But an overwhelming majority of vaccine-induced myocarditis cases are mild, real world evidence shows.  

Symptoms generally appear within a week of being jabbed and most patients make a full recovery shortly thereafter, according to the British Heart Foundation. 

The charity, which has funded various projects into the hugely controversial topic, also insists there is no evidence vaccine recipients are at increased risk of cardiac arrest afterwards, regardless of whether it is days, or months, later.

Any such link, they argue, would have been spotted by now, given that the jabs — delivered to billions across the world — were first rolled out almost three years ago.

Infections, including Covid itself, can also trigger myocarditis. This, experts argue, is a point conveniently dismissed by anti-vaxxers. 

Challenging the second point, that cardiac-related deaths are massively above pre-pandemic levels, proves trickier.

Data undisputedly shows an uptick in England since the unprecedented virus crisis began.

Even the BHF acknowledges there have been nearly 100,000 excess cardiovascular disease deaths since the beginning of the pandemic.

Yet, when broken down by age, overall death rates among young men have not risen significantly compared to pre-pandemic levels — debunking one of the main anti-vaxxer theories that swathes are being mercilessly laid low by jabs.

And they claim the rise in excess deaths, most obvious among over-45s, is partly down to the ailing state of the NHS. 

Delays in heart health screening during the pandemic, knock-on disruption of Covid lockdowns themselves, and poor ambulance response times are just some obvious factors at play. 

A BHF spokesperson said: ‘Every second counts when someone has a heart attack.

‘Average ambulance response times for suspected heart attacks and strokes have been above 30 minutes in all but one month since the beginning of 2022, and in December 2022 they even breached 90 minutes.’

They added: ‘The pandemic has caused significant disruption to the detection and management of conditions that put millions of people at much greater risk of a heart attack or stroke, like high blood pressure.’

Experts also suspect the lingering health impacts of Covid could have also played a role in total excess deaths 

A study from January found people who got infected before the vaccine roll-out were 40 per cent more likely to develop cardiovascular disease, and five times more likely to die in the 18 months after infection.

So, what about data showing heart-related deaths in younger men, the group at the centre of concerns about myocarditis risk, have shot up since the pandemic kicked off?

Well, rates were either highest in 2020 — or no different to levels seen pre-Covid, according to data collated by the Office of National Statistics (ONS).

Rates for young cardiac deaths, defined medically as a person under 35, have since fallen to around pre-pandemic norms. 

Then, what is to blame for what feels like a spate of cardiac emergencies among stars of the sporting world? Undeniably, before Covid, instances similar to Bronny’s felt few and far between.

In fact, the only high-profile incidents involved footballers Marc-Vivien Foé and Fabrice Muamba, who both collapsed on the field due to a cardiac emergency nine years apart, stick out in people’s memory, though over a dozen high-profile incidents, mainly in America, have also been recorded in the past 40 years. 

Renowned experts in cardiac health issues in young athletes told MailOnline bluntly — there has been no rise in deaths, or incidents, since Covid vaccines were put out en masse. 

A 2012 study in the journal Circulation found that a young athlete dies of a sudden cardiac event every three days on average in the US, totalling between 100 to 150 fatalities each year. 

Dr Raghav Bhatia, research fellow at the globally respected cardiovascular clinical academic group at St George’s University of London — one of the world’s most renowned sites in this specialist branch of cardiology — said: ‘There is no published literature that supports this claim.

‘A clear distinction needs to be made between peer-reviewed robust medical literature and hear-say or individual case-reports, which are often found on social media and may often represent misinformation.’

Usually, these are down to undetected cardiac problems, he said.

For example Eriksen’s collapse was pinned on an undetected ventricular fibrillation, a heart rhythm disruption.

Meanwhile, Hamlin’s was down to case of commotio cordis, where the heart stops due to a high velocity impact from an object like a ball to the chest.

Dr Bhatia added: ‘The most important thing to remember is that, in the absence of the individual concerned coming out and talking about their experience, one should not speculate.

‘Often the underlying cause and onward management may take time.

‘Speculation is often a source of disinformation and may lead to unintended consequences.’

Campaign group the Center for Countering Digital Hate said anti-vaxx groups are latching on to such incidents to promote their message despite, in many cases, it not even being known if the person in question was vaccinated.

Imran Ahmed, the group’s chief executive, said: ‘Online anti-vaxxers are parasites, cynically exploiting tragedy to baselessly connect any injury or death of a notable person to vaccinations.’

On Musk specifically, he added: ‘It is particularly worrying that Twitter has rolled back its policy on Covid disinformation to reflect Elon Musk’s desperate need to prioritise controversy, engagement, and short-term advertising profits over the public good.

‘Anti-vaxx lies are deadly and platforms must stop allowing dedicated spreaders of disinformation from abusing their platforms and the trust of other users.’

Warne’s death in Thailand at the age of 52 in 2022 was caused by coronary artery atherosclerosis, a thickening of the arteries in the heart, that led to heart attack. 

While speculation ran rife on social media that his death was linked to a Covid vaccine, there is no proof this was the case. 

Cardiac events are more common in male and black athletes, experts say, as well as in sports considered high intensity with ‘start-stop’ activities, like basketball. 

The cause of Bronny James’s cardiac event and his vaccination status are unknown.

But he checked out of the intensive care unit within 24 hours of his admission to hospital and he is currently in stable condition, a spokesman for the James family confirmed. 

Fellow athlete, and cardiac arrest sufferer Hamlin, sent his prayers to Bronny on news of the 18-year-olds collapse.

Global reports of myocarditis following Covid vaccination, particularly in young men, spooked health chiefs in 2021, when the vaccines first started being dished out to younger demographics. 

But rates in Britain were eventually found to be lower than in the US and Israel, where concerns peaked.

Some experts attributed this to the UK’s longer intervals between doses, eight weeks compared to four, and this giving the body greater time to recover. 

This, followed by data showing the risk of myocarditis from a jab was much lower than that from a Covid infection itself, led to the jabs continuing to be recommended.

British data on vaccine safety is gathered through the UK Government’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). 

Its latest report, from November, found there had been 851 reports of myocarditis following a Covid vaccination in the UK since the start of the rollout, of which 15 were fatal. 

Considering the millions of jabs that have been dished out to Britons, this provides an overall risk of 10 suspected cases of myocarditis per million doses.

Yet this is likely to be an undercount because not all cases would have been logged or reported to official channels, though reports don’t necessarily mean a confirmed case. 

The MHRA states that studies show the risk of myocarditis from contracting the virus itself has been estimated at about 1,500 cases per million patients.

Officially less than 100 deaths from Covid vaccines have been recorded the UK. Only a tiny fraction, about three, occurred in under-30s. 

While such deaths are tragic, they pale in comparison to the almost 230,000 lives estimated to have been saved by Britain’s historic Covid inoculation campaign.

And that’s not to mention the knock-on benefits, with jabs credited for ending the cycle of paralysing lockdowns that crippled the economy and the NHS.   

Globally, Covid vaccines have been credited with saving almost 20million lives during the first year of their existence.

Like with any medication or vaccine, however, the jabs do have risks. The majority are mild, such as a sore arm, flu-like symptoms and headaches.

Some concerns were raised after vaccines were found in extremely rare cases to trigger myocarditis and pericarditis — inflammation of the heart — especially among young people.

But leading heart experts insist the majority of cases are mild and temporary, and that contracting the virus itself can also cause the condition.

So what is the risk of getting myocarditis or pericarditis after the vaccine? How would I know if I had any heart damage? And is the vaccine safe for people with heart conditions or taking heart medications?

We asked two leading experts to put these fears to bed and debunk the biggest heart myths around Covid vaccinations. 

Since 2020 has there been an increase in heart-related deaths?

Yes. A report by the British Heart Foundation in November revealed that there has been just over 30,000 excess deaths involving heart disease in England since the start of the pandemic.   

This is, on average, over 230 additional deaths a week above expected.

However, causes of this ‘relate to being unable to access care for high blood pressure, heart tests and treatment for heart disease,’ according to Dr Martin Lowe, a consultant cardiologist at St Bartholomew’s Hospital, London and consultant paediatric cardiologist at Great Ormond Street Hospital, London.

He said the possible effects of Covid on the heart may also be to blame. 

Now Covid’s threat has been drastically blunted, the virus is no longer thought to be a driving force behind the excess heart disease death rate. 

Instead, ‘significant and widespread disruption to heart care services’ — including rapidly rising ambulance response times and ‘unacceptably long waits for diagnosis and treatment of conditions’ — is to blame, the BHF warned. 

NHS data also shows 2million fewer people were recorded as having controlled hypertension in 2021 compared to the previous year. 

Modelling indicates that this reduction in blood pressure control could lead to an estimated 11,190 and 16,702 additional heart attacks and strokes, respectively, over a three year period. 

Can the vaccines affect the heart?

In short, yes. 

Although it is ‘very rare’, an increased risk of myocarditis and pericarditis has been found with mRNA Covid vaccines — such as Moderna or Pfizer/BioNtech.

Myocarditis is inflammation of the heart muscle, while pericarditis is inflammation of the lining around the heart, also known as the pericardium, he added. 

But, the majority of cases that occur after vaccination ‘are mild with a complete recovery’, Dr Lowe said. 

Only in ‘extremely rare’ cases of severe myocarditis do people require hospitalisation and treatment, he added. 

‘Importantly, most people who get myocarditis or pericarditis have mild disease and the vast majority make a complete recovery, even children,’ said Professor Amitava Banerjee, an honorary consultant cardiologist at University College London.

How common is that side effect? 

The risk is low. UK data suggests a risk of one case in every 20,000 vaccine doses in most studies’, Dr Lowe added.

Those aged 18-29, particularly young men, appear to be at higher risk. And it is most common after the second dose. 

But a 2022 review on myocarditis and pericarditis following vaccination, published by the University of Alberta, found there were up to 15 cases recorded per 100,000 young men.  

A 2021 review carried out by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also showed that per million second doses of mRNA Covid vaccine administered to men aged 12–29, it may trigger between 39 and 47 expected cases of myocarditis.

However, it would also prevent 11,000 Covid infections, 560 hospitalisations, 138 intensive care hospital admissions and six deaths. 

The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) asks doctors to report side effects via its ‘Yellow Card’ scheme.

According to latest figures shared by UKHSA, as of November 23 the MHRA had received 851 reports of myocarditis and 579 of pericarditis linked to the Pfizer vaccination. 

By comparison, there were 241 reports of myocarditis and 226 reports of pericarditis linked to Oxford’s AstraZeneca jab and 251 reports of myocarditis and 149 of pericarditis, with Moderna.

‘It is important to note that Yellow Card data and similar vaccine surveillance data from other countries cannot be used to compare the safety profile of Covid vaccines as many factors can influence reporting,’ UKHSA said.  

How would I know if I had myocarditis after the vaccine? 

For the majority of people who suffer myocarditis, ‘the symptoms are mild’, Dr Lowe said. 

Symptoms generally appear within three to five days, and usually no more than a week after having the vaccine. 

If people experience these symptoms, especially if they do not go away, medical help should be sought. 

‘Severe chest pain, heart failure symptoms such as breathlessness, and dangerous changes in heart rhythm that cause episodes of collapse are rare, but require urgent assessment and treatment,’ Dr Lowe added. 

Other symptoms could also include signs of a viral infection such as body aches, fever and a sore throat, Professor Banerjee said. 

Cases of myocarditis are only diagnosed after proper assessments by specialists. 

Treatment of myocarditis depends on the symptoms experienced, but can include painkillers for the chest pain or medication to calm the inflammation, as well as drinking plenty of fluids and resting. 

Do the benefits of vaccination outweigh the potential risks of myocarditis and pericarditis? 

‘Absolutely yes. Anybody who says otherwise does not understand how to analyse the data,’ Professor Banerjee said.  

‘The risk of heart disease after Covid is much greater than the risk of heart disease after vaccination,’ he added.

Among people hospitalised with Covid, around one in 50 people per year will have pericarditis, he said.

Covid also carries a risk of myocarditis – and one that is far higher than the vaccine, at 1,500 cases per million infections. 

‘Other cardiovascular disease, such as heart failure, is more common and the associated risk is much higher with Covid,’ he said.   

‘Thankfully the vast majority of the these patients have mild heart inflammation only and make a full recovery,’ Dr Lowe added.  

Some people have reported feeling a faster heartbeat in the days after their Covid vaccine. This can be part of the body’s normal immune response to the vaccine and is not normally a cause for concern. 

Is the vaccine safe for people with heart conditions and taking heart medications or blood thinners like warfarin, clopidogrel or other antiplatelet drugs?

Yes. People who have heart conditions or who take heart medication such as anti-hypertensives or statins should still get the Covid vaccine, both experts said.  

They ‘absolutely’ agree that the vaccine is ‘safe and effective’ for people who take blood thinning medication.

It is ‘indeed recommended to protect against the effects of Covid infection’, Dr Lowe said. 

For people with heart diseases, chronic kidney disease or other chronic conditions and those over the age of 70, ‘vaccination is especially important’, Professor Banerjee added, as their risk of hospital admission from Covid is higher.  

Shannon Sharpe is sensationally leaving his Undisputed show on Fox Sports 1 after seven years, it has emerged.

The New York Post has claimed that Sharpe has agreed a deal with Fox over a buyout on his terms and his last show will be in June after the NBA Finals.

It comes months after a couple of tense disagreements between Sharpe and co-host Skip Bayless – most notably on how the NFL should handle the response to Damar Hamlin‘s cardiac arrest back in January. 

The Post also reported on Wednesday night that Sharpe wanted parity with Bayless in terms of influence over what topics are discussed on the show. But the bombshell news has left some of Sharpe’s colleagues at Fox shocked. 

Chris Broussard, of Fox Sport Radio’s ‘The Odd Couple’, said on his show: ‘I’m stunned by this news of Shannon Sharpe. I think it’s a huge loss. I thought that he and Skip Bayless had at least gotten to a point where they could coexist, but apparently not.’

Bayless tweeted the night of Hamlin’s collapse in early January that the NFL couldn’t postpone the Buffalo Bills game with Bengals due to scheduling, despite significant fears about Hamlin surviving after going into cardiac arrest on the field.

‘No doubt the NFL is considering postponing the rest of this game – but how? This late in the season, a game of this magnitude is crucial to the regular-season outcome … which suddenly seems so irrelevant,’ Bayless wrote. 

Sharpe stayed away from the following day’s episode of Undisputed and when he returned the day after, he was visibly frustrated by Bayless interrupting him while he explained his stance. 

Bayless apologized for the tweet but did not delete it. 

‘Skip tweeted something, and although I disagreed with the tweet, and hopefully Skip will take it down,’ Sharpe said, explaining his absence around the Hamlin incident, before Bayless interjected.

‘Timeout,’ Bayless said Wednesday. ‘I’m not going to take it down, because I stand by what I tweeted.’

Sharpe responded: ‘I can’t even get through a monologue without you interrupting me.

‘I was just gonna say, Skip, I didn’t want, yesterday, to get into a situation where Damar Hamlin was the issue. We should be talking about him, and not get into your tweet.

‘That’s what I was gonna do. But you can’t even let me finish my opening monologue without you interrupting.’

But the following month, Sharpe opened up on how he had repaired his relationship with Bayless.

‘We see things differently, that’s why we work on the show,’ Sharpe said in February on Chris ‘Mad Dog’ Russo’s podcast. ‘I don’t want disagreements to go outside of the lines and I think it did. I think everybody thought it.’

And Sharpe, a former NFL player who won three Super Bowls, praised the impact of the show on his life, saying: ‘More people know me from Undisputed than from the NFL – most people don’t realize I actually played and was a pretty good player!’

The premise of Undisputed is that 54-year-old Sharpe and Bayless, 71, debate the day’s major sports talking points – whether they are in agreement or not.

They also clashed on a personal level back in December when Bayless compared Sharpe retiring at 35 to Tom Brady playing up to 45. 

Sharpe played as a tight end – winning two Super Bowls with Denver Broncos and one other with the Baltimore Ravens – where as Brady was, of course, a quarterback.

‘I did what I did!’ Sharpe responded to Bayless. ‘You make it seem like I was a bum! I’m in the effin’ Hall of Fame. I got three Super Bowls!’

Bayless did not back down, saying: ‘So what? He’s way better than you were.’

It only angered Sharpe further and as he tried to speak Bayless interrupted, leading to the former tight end screaming ‘Time out!’ and throwing his glasses down onto the table.

Sharpe then said: ‘You’re willing to take a personal shot at me, to say he’s better than me, because I say he’s playing bad this year?’

Sharpe’s podcast, Club Shay Shay, is also believed to be following him out of Fox.

Bayless, meanwhile, had not offered any comment on reports on his official Twitter account, where he posts regularly. 

Undisputed is scheduled to continue at 9:30am ET on Thursday – the same day as the NBA Finals begin between Miami Heat and Denver Nuggets.

‘I just wanted to show my appreciation’: Damar Hamlin thanks Buffalo nurses for their care of him and other patients during national nurses week… four months on from on-field cardiac arrest

• Damar Hamlin has been an vocal and active member of the Buffalo community 
• On Monday, Hamlin was named the winner of the 2023 George Halas Award 
• DailyMail.com provides all the latest international sports news 

By Patrick Djordjevic For Dailymail.Com

Published: 12:45 EDT, 16 May 2023 | Updated: 13:39 EDT, 16 May 2023