Sudden Impact : Soccer Player at USIU Lives Through a Rare Heart Injury

Cem Er remembers racing toward a high-bouncing soccer ball, flying through the air and heading the ball into the net.

The next thing he remembers is lying in an ambulance, pleading for water, thinking he was dying.

A second after Er, 20, a sophomore at United States International University, headed the ball, he collided with goalkeeper David Jacques of Cal State Los Angeles.

Last week, on Wednesday, Cem Er--it’s pronounced Jim Air--suffered a rare and frightening injury during an afternoon soccer game at USIU.

Er’s chest met Jacques’ knee in the collision. The impact caused a small tear in Er’s heart, something his doctors said had probably never happened before from a blunt injury in athletics.

“I thought I was dying, I couldn’t get my breath,” Er said.

Later that night, Er, from Istanbul, Turkey, underwent open-heart surgery to repair a hole in one of the chambers of his heart.

During the ambulance ride, he struggled with paramedics, pleading for water. “I’ve never felt like that before,” he said. “I didn’t think I would live again.”

But by Saturday, Er was walking through the halls of the hospital and doing light exercises. He said most of the pain from the surgery has subsided, but he’s still weak.

Sunday, he watched football games on television.

“I can’t do sports right now, that’s what’s the worst,” he said. “I was watching television and they were playing American football. They were running, and I said, ‘Aw, shoot, I wish I could run.’ But I believe I will be able to go back (to playing soccer) soon.

“It’s really hard to explain, because I’ve never been like (this) in my life. I can’t get up easily, it’s hard to walk and I can’t run. I mean, actually, I can’t do whatever I want. It’s really hard for me, you know. I feel like I’m in a prison.”

Er said he is confident that he will return to soccer without any fears of a repeat collision.

Cardiac surgeon Robert Reichman, who repaired the tear, said Er will have to take it slow for six to eight weeks, the normal healing time for the breastbone after open-heart surgery. Reichman was uncertain when Er would be able to play, but said Er will be sidelined from competitive sports for at least six months. However, the scar tissue surrounding Er’s heart will reduce the risk of a similar injury, Reichman said.

Er seems to be handling the pain and frustration of his confinement well.

“If I hadn’t scored and had the surgery, then I would have been mad,” he said.

The goal, which put USIU ahead, 3-1, was scored with five minutes left in the second overtime period.

As the ball rolled into the net, most of Er’s teammates began celebrating. But midfielder Andy Walker, fewer than 20 yards from the collision, knew immediately that Er was hurt.

“I just screamed right away for the trainers to come over,” Walker said. “I knew he was in trouble, but I didn’t know what to do. . . . After the trainers got to him I walked away, I was shaking.”

Student trainers Linda Rix and Brian Oliver, who administered cardiopulmonary resuscitation, are credited by doctors with saving Er’s life.

Rix said she examined Er’s pupils and saw he had gone into shock. She then ran to call paramedics.

Seconds later, Er passed out. Oliver determined that Er had no pulse and was not breathing. He began CPR, and Er was soon breathing again.

“I was on the sidelines, and we didn’t know how serious it was until they gave him mouth-to-mouth,” USIU defenseman Jim Desjardin said. “Then, the whole attitude changed; nobody wanted to play anymore. Everyone was stunned and scared to see a teammate down like that.”

The game was stopped, and USIU was credited with a 3-1 victory. Er and Jacques were sprinting toward the ball from different directions, but Jacques, bigger at 6 feet 1 inch and 190 pounds, saw Er and protected himself. Er, 5-9 and 155, saw only the ball.

“After it (the collision) initially happened, I didn’t think much of it,” Jacques said. “I figured he’d get up after a couple of minutes, brush himself off and keep playing.

“But after I found out how serious it was, I was really shocked and upset.”

Jacques, who was not injured in the collision, said the incident initially made him think seriously about his future in soccer.

“I thought I could do two things,” he said. “Either I could let this upset me, and dwell on it, or I could keep playing with the same intensity I always had. If I had to do it again, I wouldn’t want the same outcome but I would go as hard as I did and he probably would have gone as hard as he did and scored.”

Barry Knotts, the trauma surgeon who initially treated Er, said a tear in the heart from such an impact is extremely rare. When Knotts consulted medical literature, he found only 21 other cases of such an injury from a blunt blow, none related to sports.

Reichman said Er amazingly needed no blood transfusions during the 2 1/2-hour operation, in which Er’s heart was stopped for six minutes by the surgeons. His breathing was taken over by a heart-lung machine.

“I opened my eyes in the (operating) room and I saw five men all around me with blue masks on and then they cut my chest,” Er said. “I didn’t feel anything, it was like my chest was itching, then I closed my eyes. Then one day later after surgery, I opened my eyes and everything was OK. I only felt lousy for one day (the day after surgery).”

Said Oliver: “If he wasn’t in such great physical shape and didn’t have such a strong desire to live, he probably wouldn’t have made it.”

Er plans to catch up with his classes at USIU, where he is majoring in business administration.

He said the trauma of the accident probably was worse for his family in Istanbul.

“My mom’s brother loves (soccer),” Er said. “He was trying to make me a good player. . . . He was trying to make me into a professional player. This will be hard for him.”

Er seems to have no doubts, however, about returning to sports or possibly a professional career.

“I was happy to come here,” he said. “I was trying to do my best.

“I had just gotten used to playing in the States (since transferring from USIU’s sister campus in London and waiting out his ineligibility period). I wish I could (still) play because I missed all of those games because I was ineligible.”