Anderson Valley Post Accounts

I wish they would have had this when Chris was down there. I hope someone donates oxygen to them as well. The school is so remote and I believe those two components could mean the difference in preventing another tragedy. I hope it never happens again, but I am glad they made a positive change.

I am Chris's mother. Where do you get your information? Chris never had asthma a day in his life. Please stop printing misinformation and get your facts straight. It just scares people and frustrates us as a family. Ironic how Chris and many others have been running in triple digit weather all summer long so if it were such an issue, your Oregon runners would be dropping like flies. The heat wasn't the factor. The truth in the matter is there are no solid answers as to what happened to Chris. There are a lot of shoulda-couldas but no one will ever know for sure. There is no guarantee that if anything had been different that the tragic outcome would change. His best bet would have been the doctor I took him to on the Monday prior. Why did the Doctor disregard the details I told him about Chris’s symptoms? He had no clue what was wrong with him so why did he not do a blood test? It is sad, but I cannot help but to think I had taken him to a more thorough doctor or one who had a respect for athletes, that maybe they would have found the virus in his heart. But once again, there are no guarantees that any doctor would have done a blood test on him. Take it for what it is worth; there was no one single cause that cost the life of my son. I have to live with that 24/7 forever, even when everyone else forgets he was ever here. My son was a handsome, strong, happy, young man that was full of life and dreams. He was never forced to run, he was not visibly ill and could have made the determination not to run all on his own, and he was driven enough to cross that finish line no matter what type of pain he was in. I am so proud of him for being strong and I miss him incredibly.