Killum Falls Into Coma, Is Critical : College basketball: Oregon State guard is placed on respirator and his family maintains bedside vigil.

Oregon State guard Earnest Killum was placed on a respirator after lapsing into a coma early Sunday morning following his second stroke in six months. He was listed in critical condition at the cardiac care unit at Daniel Freeman Hospital in Inglewood.

Killum had been listed in fair condition after suffering a stroke on Friday. Partially paralyzed on his right side after the stroke, he was able to move his right arm Saturday night, Oregon State spokesman Steve Fenk said.

However, Killum slipped into a coma between 5 and 6 a.m., said Dr. Richard Cronk, Oregon State’s team physician.

A prominent local cardiologist said Killum’s condition is serious.

“The range of possibilities are enormous,” the cardiologist said. “It is impossible to speculate what the situation is. If he lost consciousness, it is a very serious proposition for him.

“It’s a real emergency. I’m sure they are treating it aggressively.”

Oregon State Athletic Director Dutch Baughman planned to fly here from Corvallis, Ore., to be with Killum’s family at Daniel Freeman. Killum’s mother, Thelma Woods, and grandmother, Martha Cottrell, were maintaining a bedside vigil at the hospital.

“Obviously, we’re very concerned,” Fenk said, adding that the team was informed of Killum’s condition when it returned home Sunday after last weekend’s trip to the Southland for games against USC and UCLA.

Oregon State basketball player Canaan Chatman, who shares an apartment with Killum, was deeply affected.

“I just feel devastated because Earnest was just like a brother to me,” Chatman said. “In the summer I was devastated (after Killum’s first stroke), but they say this is even worse than it was in the summer.

“When we left this morning it seemed like he was going to be OK. But when we got back here they told us that the situation had gotten worse and he’d gone into a coma. I don’t how to feel or what to think. I can’t do anything but pray.”

Shortly before he suffered the second stroke, Killum spoke with a Times reporter and said he didn’t feel he was putting his life at risk by playing basketball.

“It’s just my faith that is keeping me going,” Killum said. “I’m not worried about nothing happening to me at all.”

Killum, 20, suffered a mild stroke on July 19 while playing a pickup game at a Watts park. The next day he underwent surgery during which doctors removed a blood clot from his left arm. He was placed on a blood thinning medication called Coumadin.

Fearing that a severe blow would cause internal bleeding, Killum was forbidden from playing basketball.

But on Dec. 26, doctors decided to reduce the amount of medication enough to allow him to play.

“He will likely always be at some risk,” Cronk told the Portland Oregonian at the time. “But the experts have determined that the risk is in an acceptable range.”

The 6-foot 4-inch guard played his first game on Dec. 27 against La Salle, scoring 12 points in 11 minutes.

Killum played in six more games, averaging eight points, 1.2 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 12.5 minutes. Thursday night, he played 16 minutes in a 90-73 loss to USC and scored 13 points. He also held Trojan guard Harold Miner to seven points during the second half after Miner had scored 30 points during the first.

After attending a study session at the team hotel Friday morning, Killum spoke with a Times sportswriter and then went to the hotel hot tub. Killum, who had a circulation problem, had apparently been using the hot tub to warm up his legs before practice.

Oregon State trainer Mike (Sandy) Sandago discovered Killum semiconscious with one leg in the hot tub. He was taken by ambulance to Daniel Freeman.

Cronk said tests then determined that Killum’s second stroke was more severe than his first.

A moment of silence was observed for Killum at Saturday’s USC-Oregon game and at the UCLA-Oregon State game. The Beavers extended the No. 2 Bruins into overtime before losing, 87-81.

Oregon State dedicated the game to Killum.

“Before the game we just said we were going to try to get this win for Earnest,” Chatman said. “We wanted to try to do it for us, but mainly we wanted to do it for him. I think the coaches were hesitant to tell us his real situation going into the game because I think they thought it would affect our play. But it got us going.

“We said a little prayer and dedicated it to him. But unfortunately, we couldn’t pull it out.”

Chatman said he and several teammates tried to visit Killum at the hospital after the game.

“At first he was in a regular room where he could get visitors,” Chatman said. “But then they moved him to a cardiac-care unit room where no visitors were allowed and we couldn’t call him on the phone.”

Times Staff Writer Elliott Almond contributed to this story.