Latest news with #BenChristman
Daily Mail
09-05-2025
- Health
- Daily Mail
NFL analyst slams anti-vaxxers for hijacking poignant post about college player's death at age 21
Kirk Herbstreit has hit back at anti-vaxxers attempting to blame the covid vaccine for the death of college football payer Ben Christman at age 21. Earlier this week, it emerged that Christman died from cardiac arrhythmia, an irregular heartbeat and cardiomyopathy - a disease that makes it harder for the heart to pump blood around the body. Herbstreit took to X to offer his condolensces to Christman's family, explaing how his son was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy at 20, but his condition improved. The ESPN college analyst ended his initial post by saying: 'Too many young people are asymptomatic and unaware of any issues that exist. A mandated Echo (echocardiogram - a heart test) could help save lives. It's time for the NCAA and Conference Commissioners to take a look at this. Love to be involved.' But an X user responded to Herbstreit asking if Christman was vaccinated for Covid-19, to which he replied: 'I have no idea about Ben and his health history and respectfully this isn't about politics. 'Heart disease-cardiac arrhythmia-irregular heartbeat have been an issues with young people for generations! My grandfather-aunt-brother-myself all diagnosed with cardiomyopathy. 'All these can be diagnosed with the proper testing-it's expensive to do it universally but feel it's last time to help prevent these unfortunate type of situations. 'Please don't take the low hanging fruit and make it about Covid-the vaccine-or your politics. This has been an issues for several decades.' Another anti-vaxxer replied to Herbstreit saying: 'It kinda is about politics and the forcing of people to take an untested vaccine that has resulted in an abnormally high number of heart defects in young people.' Herbstreit responded: 'All good. If it's okay let's sidebar that discussion-just for a moment. 'Whether the vaccine added to this issue or not-the point is my suggestion about making Echos mandatory in college athletics is past due and hope we can make it happen albeit very expensive and I'd like to use my platform and family experience with heart disease to offer my support. That's all.' Christman reportedly underwent an EKG - a test to check the heartbeat - on February 10 after complaining of chest pains, with a cardio doctor subsequently reviewing the tests but not finding anything alarming. Following that practice, Christman reportedly returned home at around 3pm and went straight into his room after briefly greeting his roommate. The next day, according to police documents, Christman was found by a teammate lying on his back, foaming at the mouth and with purple fingers. Following that practice, Christman reportedly returned home at around 3pm and went straight into his room after briefly greeting his roommate. The next day, according to police documents, Christman was found by a teammate lying on his back, foaming at the mouth and with purple fingers. A police officer reportedly arrived at the scene on the morning of February 11 - following a 911 call - and determined that Christman had been deceased for 'a few hours' due to the color of his right arm. The person who placed the 911 call and another teammate were administering CPR when the officer arrived.
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Coroner's office: Heart issues caused UNLV offensive lineman Ben Christman's death
UNLV offensive lineman Ben Christman's February death was due to a heart issue. The Clark County Coroner's Office said Thursday that Christman died of heart disease and an irregular heartbeat. Christman was found dead at his apartment on Feb. 11. He was set to turn 22 on Feb. 12. According to an incident report after his death, Christman said that he was experiencing chest pains the day before. He visited the team's cardiologist and had an EKG but was told that everything looked normal. He was discovered at his apartment by teammates who went to check on him after he wasn't at practice on Feb. 11. 'Our team's heart is broken to hear of Ben's passing,' UNLV coach Dan Mullen said in a statement after his death. 'Since the day Ben set foot on our campus a month ago, he made the Rebels a better program. Ben was an easy choice for our Leadership Committee as he had earned the immediate respect, admiration and friendship of all his teammates.' Before transferring to UNLV in the offseason, Christman spent two seasons at Ohio State and two seasons at Kentucky. He was with the Buckeyes for the 2021 and 2022 seasons and then transferred to Lexington where he appeared in 12 games over two seasons. He was an Ohio native and four-star recruit in the high school class of 2021. On social media Friday morning, former Ohio State quarterback and current ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit advocated for all college physicals to include echocardiograms. His son Zak, a walk-on at Ohio State, was hospitalized in 2023 and diagnosed with cardiomyopathy. In his post, Herbstreit said that a heart replacement was even discussed for Zak but that his condition has improved over the past two years. 'A mandated echo could help save lives,' Herbstreit wrote. 'It's time for the NCAA and conference commissioners to take a look at this. Love to be involved.'
Daily Mail
09-05-2025
- Health
- Daily Mail
Cause of death revealed after college football star's tragic death at 21
UNLV football player Ben Christman died from cardiac arrhythmia, an irregular heartbeat and cardiomyopathy - a disease that makes it harder for the heart to pump blood around the body. That is according to the coroner in Nevada who examined the body of the 21-year-old, who was found dead in his apartment back in February. At the time, police documents - obtained by TMZ - revealed that Christman experienced chest pains during practice the day before his death. Christman reportedly underwent an EKG - a test to check the heartbeat - on February 10 after complaining of chest pains, with a cardio doctor subsequently reviewing the tests but not finding anything alarming. Following that practice, Christman reportedly returned home at around 3pm and went straight into his room after briefly greeting his roommate. The next day, according to police documents, Christman was found by a teammate lying on his back, foaming at the mouth and with purple fingers. A police officer reportedly arrived at the scene on the morning of February 11 - following a 911 call - and determined that Christman had been deceased for 'a few hours' due to the color of his right arm. The person who placed the 911 call and another teammate were administering CPR when the officer arrived. Christman had missed practice that morning, leading his teammates to check on him. The roommate told cops that he had not seen Christman since he went into his room following the previous day's practice. The school released an emotional statement following Christman's death. 'Our team's heart is broken to hear of Ben's passing,' new Rebels head coach Dan Mullen said. 'Since the day Ben set foot on our campus a month ago, he made the Rebels a better program. Ben was an easy choice for our Leadership Committee as he had earned the immediate respect, admiration and friendship of all his teammates.' 'Our prayers go out to his family and all who knew him. Ben made the world a better place and he will be missed.' Christman had transferred to UNLV earlier this year after two seasons at Kentucky. Before that, he was a four-star recruit out of high school and played for two years at Ohio State. The 6-foot-6, 325-pound Christman was entering his final season of college eligibility.
Fox News
08-05-2025
- Health
- Fox News
College football offensive lineman Ben Christman died of irregular heartbeat, coroner says
Ben Christman, a college football offensive lineman who had transferred from Kentucky to UNLV, was found dead in his off-campus apartment back in February at the age of 21, one day before his birthday. Christman reportedly felt chest pains the day before he died while practicing and underwent an EKG at a team facility. Well, the Clark County (Nevada) Coroner's Office announced Thursday that Christman died from cardiac arrhythmia, an irregular heartbeat and cardiomyopathy, a disease that impacts the heart muscle. Christman was at Ohio State for two seasons before he transferred to Kentucky. He sat out the 2023 season with a knee injury and played on special teams in 2024. He was set to play for UNLV in the upcoming 2025 season. "Our team's heart is broken to hear of Ben's passing," UNLV head coach Dan Mullen said in a statement at the time of his death. "Since the day Ben set foot on our campus a month ago, he made the Rebels a better program. Ben was an easy choice for our Leadership Committee as he had earned the immediate respect, admiration and friendship of all his teammates. "Our prayers go out to his family and all who knew him. Ben made the world a better place and he will be missed." School president Keith E. Whitfield said he was "incredibly saddened" to hear about Christman's death. "There is little that can be said to lessen the pain of suddenly losing a member of our university family at such a young age, and my heart breaks for all who knew and loved him," he said. "On behalf of UNLV, our sincere condolences are with Ben's family, friends, loved ones, and teammates during this very difficult time." Christman was from Akron, Ohio, and played high school football at Revere High School. He was a four-star recruit coming out of high school. Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
Associated Press
08-05-2025
- Health
- Associated Press
Coroner finds UNLV football player died from heart disease and irregular heartbeat
LAS VEGAS (AP) — UNLV senior offensive lineman Ben Christman died three months ago from heart disease and an irregular heartbeat, the Clark County Coroner's Office announced Thursday. Christman, who transferred from Kentucky, was found dead in an off-campus apartment on Feb. 11. He was 21. He began his college career at Ohio State as a highly ranked prospect in the 2021 recruiting class. Christman redshirted that season and played in one game in 2022 before transferring to Kentucky. Christman did not play in 2023 because of a knee injury, but appeared in all 12 games last season on special teams. He then transferred to UNLV. 'Our team's heart is broken to hear of Ben's passing,' UNLV coach Dan Mullen said in a statement issued after Christman's death. 'Since the day Ben set foot on our campus a month ago, he made the Rebels a better program. Ben was an easy choice for our leadership committee as he had earned the immediate respect, admiration and friendship of all his teammates. Our prayers go out to his family and all who knew him. Ben made the world a better place and he will be missed.' ___ Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP college football: and
