Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, February 24, 1992 TAG: 9202240152
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
REBOUNDING FROM WORRISOME HEART
Patrick Henry's Taromba "Turk" Smith can't drink carbonated soda or eat pork, but he can play high school basketball.Three years ago, the PH senior forward couldn't even do that. A promising career was put on hold before his sophomore year when a routine physical examination found he had an enlarged heart muscle.
Smith was sent to a cardiologist in Roanoke, who referred him to another specialist in Bethesda, Md.
"At first, they thought it was a condition like the one Hank Gathers [the Loyola Marymount University basketball star who collapsed while playing in a game and died shortly afterward] had. But the only way they could have known for sure was to perform an autopsy. They couldn't do that, so they said he couldn't play," PH coach Woody Deans said.
A physical during his freshman year disclosed a heart murmur, but he was given permission to play, Smith said.
The next year that changed. Deans said doctors put Smith on hypertension medicine because his condition was related to high blood pressure.
"We didn't know for sure if he'd play again, but we knew during his sophomore year he wouldn't be able to play. He was very disappointed, but the doctor said for him to keep taking medicine and we'd re-evaluate" his condition], Deans said.
Dealing with the forced break in his basketball career was difficult for Smith, who said he had felt in better shape than ever.
"It killed me," Smith said. "I had no idea [it was that serious]. . . . I was in perfect shape. I could run a mile in five minutes and 30-some seconds."
"It was a shock," his mother, Sandra Banks, said of an AAU tournament he played in before his sophomore year. "He could have died on the court.
"It was real hard on him. He went through a stage of depression and his schoolwork began to drop."
Though he was out of high school basketball, Smith refused to quit completely despite doctor's orders.
"I'd stay in the park and play five or six hours. I never got tired," Smith said.
Deans said the coaches couldn't keep him from playing outside school, even if Smith knew he was supposed to be a spectator.
"He always told me he was going to the park to watch others play. I didn't know he was actually playing," Banks says.
This past summer, doctors at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md., re-evaluated Smith.
"Instead of staying for just a day, I was there for a week," Smith says. "They put me on some new medicine and told me I could play. It would limit how fast my heart beats and that I might get tired."
A letter from the institute's Dr. Thomas Bartless that approved Smith's participation in varsity basketball was sent to the Roanoke city schools administration with copies to all concerned officials.
"They sent a letter to his cardiologist here that he could play with no undue risk of sudden cardiac death. He even went back up after we had started practice to have it checked again," Deans said.
Nobody was more relieved by the results than Smith.
"I was praying to get back my junior year," Smith says. "I had stopped praying last summer. I was beginning to lose hope."
With some alterations in his lifestyle - carbonated soda and food with pork products are off-limits because they affect the medicine he takes - Smith is back in action.
He started in the season opener, then was coming off the bench until working his way back into the starting lineup a couple of weeks ago.
"I was nervous in that first game, but I was starting. I couldn't believe that. I just had to go out there and play the game the way I can play it," he says.
Smith said he doesn't worry about collapsing on the court, but his mother didn't want him to play.
"I tried not to let him know it," Banks said. "It bothered me, but since the doctors saw no harm, I didn't stop him."
"I kept talking to her about it," Smith said. "She knew I wanted to play. Basketball is like my hobby. It keeps my mind off things. That's why I kept going to the park and playing."
Now Smith is becoming a key I was praying to get back my junior year. I had stopped praying last summer. I was beginning to lose hope. Taromba "Turk" Smith Playing basketball at William Fleming High despite an enlarged heart muscle for the Patriots, ranked first among Group AAA teams in Virginia. He scored in double figures in back-to-back crucial games against William Fleming and Pulaski County as the Patriots won both and clinched the Roanoke Valley District title.
"When he was a sophomore, it appeared that he would be outstanding. The layoff has obviously hurt him some. He hasn't worked on the fundamentals, though he's obviously played some basketball" in the parks, Deans said. "He's really fitting in quicker than I thought he would. He's back to starting, but timewise, he's probably like our sixth man."
Deans said his only restriction is to be sure Smith keeps taking his medication.
The coach said Smith can tire easily, and the coaching staff watches for that.
"We try to give him a breather, but not because of" his past medical condition, Deans said. "A lot of kids get tired quicker than others. Troy Manns [PH point guard] could go all night long."
Smith is working on his game, his stamina and a few other things.
"I'm very proud of him," his mother says. "Not only has his basketball improved, but his grades are fantastic.
"I told him, never forget who brought him through. God brought him through, so play for Him."
"The thing about Turk is no matter what he does basketball-wise, his life is more important," Deans said.
"We didn't want to take chances."