His Performance Didn’t Miss a Beat

It looked as if David Hansen was just there to watch.

Three weeks after entering the hospital with an irregular heartbeat, the Mater Dei junior traveled with his team to a Serra League track and field meet Wednesday at Santa Margarita.

Rumors of Hansen’s condition indicated something much worse, and some teammates were just glad to see him. Most were surprised to see Hansen dressed in his Mater Dei warm-ups.

“People wouldn’t believe I was there to race,” Hansen said. “Finally, I started going along with it and telling people I was just there to cheer my teammates on.”

The truth came out when Hansen pulled off his sweats and began warming up for the 800 meters. Once the initial shock began to wear off, another set in.

Hansen sped through the two-lap race in 1 minute 58.18 seconds, the fifth-best time this season among county runners and the fastest he had ever run the event by three seconds.

Santa Margarita’s Steven Murray won the race in 1:56.56, the county’s fourth-fastest time this season.

“I didn’t even think about [running under two minutes],” Hansen said. “It just kind of happened that way.”

It was about as unpredictable as the last month’s health scare that began with a cold glass of milk.

Hansen had just completed an exhausting week of academics and athletics. He ran three events in a league meet against Bellflower St. John Bosco on March 29, then came back two days later and ran the 3,200 at the Trabuco Hills Invitational. In between, he prepared for and took the ACT. He also kept up with the rest of his studies, which are no piece of cake, considering he holds a 4.3 grade-point average and is a National Honor Society member.

Hansen was experiencing pain in his knee from a chronic buildup of tissue, called a shelf, which was removed when he was younger. Otherwise, he felt as fit as ever.

That suddenly changed when he took a drink of milk during lunch on April 2, triggering the irregular heartbeat.

“That’s when disaster struck,” Hansen said.

His heart began to flutter instead of pound, something he typically felt once or twice a year. His heart usually corrected itself on its own, but this time it didn’t. That evening, he began feeling tired and light-headed. He got to sleep but by morning was severely nauseous.

His father, Dave Hansen, took one look at him and said it was time to go to the hospital.

“I knew exactly what it was,” Dave said. “I had it at his age as well.”

David was going through an unusually long episode of atrial fibrillation, a disorder found in about 2 million Americans.

Atrial fibrillation happens when the two small upper chambers of the heart, the atria, quiver instead of beating effectively. Blood isn’t pumped completely out when the heart beats, so it may pool and clot.

It took doctors a battery of tests to convince themselves of that diagnosis. One test was an angiogram, where a fiber optic lens is inserted in an artery running from the groin area to the heart, allowing doctors an interior view of the muscle.

Mater Dei Coach Rick Martinez paid Hansen a visit in the hospital and both figured his season was over.

“We were already talking about coming back in the fall for cross-country,” Martinez said.

That was devastating for Hansen to consider, but it seemed a reality. He had given up soccer to prepare for the track season and thought he was in the best shape of his life.

“It was frustrating just watching my fitness waste away,” Hansen said. “It was an emotionally and physically trying time.”

Hansen mustered the courage to run on the beach but found the pain from the angiogram and the growth on his knee too much to bear.

He found some relief running the treadmill at his doctor’s office, but it wasn’t until early last week, when he completed a hard workout with a friend, that he felt like he could come back this season.

He discussed it with Martinez, who discussed it with David’s father. The three figured as long as the pain in the knee and groin wasn’t bad enough, Hansen could return to racing.

He proved himself last week at Santa Margarita, and now plans to return to the same track on Friday for the Serra League finals. Hansen scratched from the Orange County Championships on Saturday because the pain in his knee flared up, but said he’ll do whatever it takes to race at league finals.

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Hansen said. “It’s something I set my sights on a long time ago.”

As for the atrial fibrillation, the Hansens are confident David can continue to pursue his love for running, mostly because that also runs in the family.

“He’ll be fine,” Dave Hansen said. “My father had it and he ran 10-Ks into his late 70s.”

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

TRACK & FIELD TOP 10

Orange County Sportswriters’ Poll

GIRLS

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Pos. School League 1. Esperanza (1) Sunset 2. Woodbridge (2) Sea View 3. Santa Ana Valley (7) Century 4. Mater Dei (6) Serra 5. Newport Harbor (4) Sea View 6. Mission Viejo (3) S. Coast 7. San Clemente (NR) S.Coast 8. El Toro (NR) S.Coast 9. Aliso Niguel (10) Sea View 10. Santa Margarita (5) Serra

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BOYS

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Pos. School League 1. Santa Margarita (2) Serra 2. Edison (3) Sunset 3. Tustin (1) G. West 4. Mission Viejo (4) S. Coast 5. Newport Harbor (5) Sea View 6. Valencia (7) Orange 7. Fountain Valley (9) Sunset 8. Esperanza (6) Sunset 9. Hunt. Beach (NR) Sunset 10. Los Alamitos (NR) Sunset

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Last week’s rankings in parentheses