Special to NDF.com, written by NDC women's basketball player Danielle Ledrich.
“I woke up on the floor of our bathroom at about two in the morning with a large bruise on my head. I couldn't remember why I was in the bathroom or how I had gotten there.”
Courtney Clark, a young and vibrant 19-year-old from Brecksville, Ohio, recently recalled an incident that is much too common for her. Clark, who is majoring in psychology, came to Notre Dame College in the fall of 2010 with the intentions to play basketball. On the outside Clark looks like every other student athlete. But on the inside is a more complicated body.
Clark, the starting point guard of the Notre Dame College Women's Basketball team, suffers from a disease called Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome or POTS. The disease is a dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system, which controls everything in your body that you don't have control over, such as your heart rate, blood pressure and digestion. With this condition, Clark's heart rate increases and her blood pressure decreases until her body can't handle it and she suddenly passes out.
“I can usually tell when I'm about to faint since all of my symptoms are very obvious,” Clark said. “It's an extremely scary experience, especially when I'm in class or around people who don't know what's going on or what to do to help.”
Clark's symptoms present in form of a panic attack, anxiety and rapid heartbeats. Sometimes, Clark may even faint out of the blue.
Every POTS patient is different but Clark's symptoms, in addition to fainting, include extreme fatigue, cold extremities, chest pain, trouble breathing, light headedness, trouble concentrating, an increased heart rate of over 120 bpm (the average person has a resting heart rate of 60 beats per minute), and chills or overheating. After waking up, Clark can be in a state of momentary but extreme confusion.
Clark developed POTS after contracting mono the summer before her junior year in high school. She was diagnosed about four months after having this common disease and after suddenly passing out at basketball practice. She has a form of POTS that most doctors believe she will grow out of by her mid-20s.
“Courtney and I have been friends for over a year [and roommates this year], and seeing her pass out was scary,”
Erin Entinghe, a 20-year-old sophomore from Avon, Ohio, said. “I was helping her up when she fainted again while I was trying to steady her. I knew I had to be composed and calm for when she became conscious.”
Clark deals with this uncontrollable disease while playing basketball at the collegiate level on a daily basis. This complication is difficult for her because she must have support from coaches, teammates and trainers for everything to run smoothly.
“Everyone who knows about my condition has been extremely helpful,” Clark said. “My coaches understand that I need more time to recover then the average person, and my trainers provide a safe place to go to when I'm feeling an episode coming on. And my teammates all look out for me.”
Clark's teammates admire her for her strength.
“It's great to see her competing at the college level with such a major health disorder. When watching her on the court, no one would ever know what really goes on, the battle her body wages against her,” said
Kym Bowsher, a 21-year-old junior from Lima, Ohio, studying management. “We are all so proud of her and she gives us the confidence that no matter what happens in life, something good will always come out of it.”
Despite all of these complications that occur both on and off the court, the sophomore point guard is doing well for her team. Clark has played in 16 games with eight starts for the Falcons during the 2011-2012 season so far. She had a career-high 19 points in the Falcons 70-53 win over Urbana. Currently the 5-foot-9 guard is averaging 6.4 points per game, has 33 assists, 17 steals, and a team high 18 blocks while playing 22.6 minutes per game.
Clark plans to keep up her playing intensity while on the court and to overcome her disease off it.
