The Heart of the Matter

Adam Davidson idolizes Shaquille O'Neal. The Fort Cobb-Broxton senior has posters, pictures and memorabilia of the NBA superstar. Davidson has Shaq's college jersey at LSU, and every NBA team he has played for -- Orlando, Los Angeles Lakers and the Miami Heat. All of it covered Davidson's bedroom for years. Not anymore. Now it's all in boxes in the storage shed. It's not that the 6-foot-4 Davidson doesn't like Shaq anymore, it's that he can no longer emulate his idol on the court. "It just reminded me of something I can't do anymore, and that's play basketball," Davidson said. "It hurt too much to walk into the room and remember the good times I had playing basketball, and sometimes trying to be like Shaq." Davidson, a starter for Ft. Cobb-Broxton, learned this past June that he can't play basketball again because he suffers from Marfan Syndrome. The syndrome is a condition that makes the connective tissue in the body defective. It affects the skeleton, eyes, heart and blood vessels, nervous system, skin and lungs. In most people with Marfan Syndrome, the most serious problem is enlargement of the aorta, the main blood vessel that carries blood away from the heart, which can be life threatening. "The doctors said my heart swells when I play and it could burst at any moment," Davidson said. "So they said I couldn't play contact sports anymore. It was like they ripped out my heart when I heard that." That's because Davidson was a gym rat since his father taught him to play basketball six years ago. He was at the gym nearly every day. He was a key contributor for Ft. Cobb-Broxton for three years. "It's the saddest thing to see," said Tyler Walters, a friend and teammate of Davidson. "He's so lost without playing. We encourage him any way we can. He wants to do something, but his body won't let him. He just wants to be a kid and play ball." It's even more painful this time of year with the playoffs underway and the state tournament nearing. Davidson was known as a tough, physical role player for three years. He contributed on a Class B state championship team in 2005 and was a starter on a runner-up team in 2006, averaging six points a game. "The one thing I miss the most are the fans, hearing them cheer when you score," Davidson said. "I loved this time of year. It was all basketball all the time." Now it's hard for Davidson to watch any basketball. He misses it too much. He's so used to playing this time of year. But that began to change his freshman season when he started having severe chest pains, shortness of breath and getting fatigued more easily, especially during basketball games. He went to several doctors, who told him that he was growing so fast that his heart wasn't able to keep up and that it wasn't serious. "I wasn't too worried about it," Davidson said. "I thought it would blow over at some time." It never did. It got worse. Sometimes he would become incoherent and other times he would pass out, but never during a game. He did pass out twice after a game last year and had to be taken to the hospital in an ambulance. He rarely played last season because his health problems became severe. "It was definitely a scary time," Ft. Cobb-Broxton coach Scott Hines said. "We didn't know what was going on, neither did the doctors. The longer he played, the worse he got. We were all worried." It reached a breaking point this past April in Lawton while Davidson was at a Future Farmers of America land judging competition. After the competition, Davidson and a few other competitors were in a van going out to eat when a teacher noticed he was unconscious. "The last thing I remember was asking where we were going to go eat," Davidson said. "The next thing I know I'm in the hospital. I didn't know what was going on. I thought, 'Not this again. Why does this keep happening to me?'" He was in the hospital for eight hours. But he and his family finally got the answer to his health problems when a doctor discovered it was Marfan Syndrome. "There was relief to find out what it was, but it was also scary because we didn't know much about it," said Kendra Davidson, Adam's mother. "It's been a long road. We went through so many doctors it wasn't even funny. It's been a nightmare. I wondered what I did or he did wrong to deserve this. There were a lot of tears and lots of anger." Then, Adam Davidson got some news he never imagined he would hear. In late June, he was preparing to travel with his AAU team to Australia and Hawaii when he got a call from the doctor. They said he had to give up contact sports because of the dangers, including death. "I was crushed. I was so excited for this year," Davidson said. "We had a dominant (high school) team. It was the hardest thing for me to realize. I understood I was sick and I went through all the tests. I could deal with all that. But I couldn't deal with basketball being taken away from me." He did not take the news well. He would not come out of his room for days at a time. He had to take anti-depressants. And he stayed as far away from basketball as possible. "I thought I was going to go crazy," Davidson said. Once the season started in November, Davidson steered clear from the Ft. Cobb-Broxton team - for a while. But his family, former teammates and coaches wanted him to be there. So he started going to a couple of games in December, mainly helping with the junior varsity team and at the concession stand. He watches the varsity team occasionally, but it's still too hard watching his former teammates. "It crushed him to have to give up basketball, but he has a long life ahead of him," Hines said. "There was no guarantee that he would be OK if he kept playing. Sometimes life is not fair. I hope he becomes stronger for it. He still tries to convince us about letting him play one more game." Davidson is still adjusting to living without playing basketball and with Marfan Syndrome. He has to take several pills and injections a day to lower his blood pressure and reduce the swelling in his heart. He knows there will be some tough days ahead. He also knows he wants to stay on the court, even if it can't be as a player. "I am really upset because I miss the game so much," Davidson said. "But I realize I can't escape the game. I am going to college and want to be a coach. I want to be in the game in some way because I just love it too much."