 
|
|||||||||
              
|
Hidden heart problem killed Congolese teen Journey to safety ends in sorrow Friday, August 17, 2001 By Anita Srikameswaran, Post-Gazette Staff Writer
For Janvier Umugabo, the United States was supposed to have been a haven from fear and death.
The 16-year-old had come with his family to Pittsburgh last year to escape the terrors of their homeland, the Democratic Republic of the Congo. But a previously undetected heart abnormality caused him to collapse during a Baldwin High School soccer practice Wednesday, and he died in the emergency room at Jefferson Hospital.
The sophomore had aspired to a career in computer science or government administration, said his brother, Pierre Gahima, 26.
And "he wanted to be the best player in soccer in Pennsylvania," he said. "He liked Pittsburgh."
Janvier's mother, Emma Nziraguses, arrived here with the teen-ager in March 2000 soon after her four other children had settled in. Janvier's father and many other relatives were killed or lost in the civil strife in the Congo.
The family members do not share a common name because, like other Congolese citizens, they use no surname.
Janvier's older sister "has no clue what happened to her husband or to her four children," noted Khadra Mohammed, of Family Resources, an organization that began aiding the family three weeks ago.
If they had not left the Congo, Janvier "would have been fighting or dead before he even lived this long," Mohammed added.
Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Pittsburgh helped the family move from a refugee camp in Benin, where they had spent seven months after fleeing the Congo, and is providing assistance with funeral arrangements.
"Everyone is very heartbroken by this," said Michael Andreola, Catholic Charities director of development and public relations. "We will do all we can to help and offer our prayers and sympathy to the family."
Experts said it is very rare to have a sudden death in a young person from a congenital heart condition.
"It seems more common than we think because it's such a tragic event, it's almost always newsworthy," said Dr. Lee Beerman, interim chief of cardiology at Children's Hospital.
While the Allegheny County coroner's office determined that Umugabo died of such a defect, it did not specify what type it was.
One defect that can cause problems is congenital hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, which is a genetically based thickening of the muscular walls of the heart, which can lead to difficulties with blood flow out of the organ. Another hard-to-detect condition is an abnormality in the coronary arteries that supply the heart with blood and oxygen. Aberrations in the heart rhythm can occur as well.
Affected people may have chest pain or dizziness, or collapse during exertion, all signals that a doctor's assessment is needed.
In the young, "the vast majority of chest pain is not caused by any heart problem, but more often a strain of the muscles in the chest wall," Beerman said.
Sometimes the heart problems can be detected by a careful physical exam and with a thorough review of the individual and family history. But a lack of symptoms would not be uncommon.
"It's possible that the episode of sudden death may be the first symptom that's manifested by the heart problem," Beerman said.
Sports medicine expert Dr. David Stone, an associate team physician for the University of Pittsburgh, said some studies have found that as few as a quarter of athletes who died of congenital heart disease on the playing field had displayed symptoms prior to their deaths.
"We are terrible at picking this stuff up," Stone said. The definitive tests for the rare conditions , such as echocardiography and cardiac catheterization, are invasive and expensive, and therefore not practical screening tools for large populations.
Janvier was in good health and never complained of problems, said his brother.
"We don't understand why he's dead," he said.
Their mother had envisioned her children building a new life in the United States. The loss of her son has devastated her.
"We want to study, to enjoy the good life, the freedom," Pierre Gahima said. "The one thing you want is all your family to be in America."
The John F. Slater Funeral Home has donated its services to the family. Visitation will be from 2 to 9 p.m. Sunday at the funeral home, 4201 Brownsville Road, Whitehall. Mass will be celebrated at 1 p.m. Monday at St. Benedict the Moor Church in the Hill District. Burial arrangements have not been finalized.
|
||||||||
