Florida Gators Star Who Collapsed At Basketball Game Released From Hospital
Keyontae Johnson’s progress continues and the 21-year-old basketball star is getting released from the hospital. The junior player has been making big strides and this has allowed him to go home and spend Christmas with his family.
It was a big development for the junior player who collapsed in the early part of their match against the Florida State Seminoles. Coming off a timeout, Johnson fell face-first near the center court to the shock of players and people in attendance. He was carried out on a stretcher and immediately brought to the hospital.
Through all those anxious moments, Johnson has responded well. His latest update was shared by the Johnson family through the Florida Gators Men’s Basketball Twitter account.
However, Johnson remains under observation with attending physicians still trying to figure out the cause behind his collapse. There are no conclusive answers on his medical condition, particularly the part that was behind the collapse.
In a previous post, it was mentioned how Johnson was placed in a medically-induced coma after some brain activity was found after the whole incident. The 6-foot-5 cager woke up from that and responded well to family and doctors.
Johnson also thanked everyone for their support throughout. He issued a statement via CBS News.
“To all doctors and medical staff at Tallahassee Memorial and UF Shands, I do want to say thank you for all the support y’all gave me, especially the lady that was in the gym at Florida State,” Johnson said. “To my Gator nation and the UF athletic family, I just want to thank you for all the prayers that y’all gave out to me. Go Gators.”
Johnson is a promising star who passed up joining the 2020 NBA Draft to continue playing for the Gators. He is averaging 14.0 points, 7.1 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 31.3 minutes of action in 31 games as a starter for the University of Florida. He was named to the 2020 First-Team All-SEC last season.
Though most want to see him back on the basketball court, the focus is now on the reason behind his collapse. Fortune reported that it could be because of dehydration or potentially be heart-related. Hypertrophic and myocarditis are possible, especially considering the 25-year-old had reportedly tested positive for COVID-19 last summer.
In COVID patients, myocarditis is believed to result from the direct infection of the virus attacking the heart. If not, it could be a consequence of inflammation triggered by the body’s overly aggressive immune response.