Heart diagnosis made Jake Hansel a player in different kind of game

It’s the most common cause for sudden cardiac death in youth athletes, according to the National Library of Medicine. Had it not been discovered, he might have played this entire 2016-17 high school basketball season — his final year for the Papermakers — at an unknown increased risk for sudden cardiac arrest on the court.

“In a good way,” Hansel said, “I’m grateful that didn’t happen to me.”

Instead, the 18-year-old is now on the bench for every game as part of head coach Skyler Gillispie’s staff this winter.

“I know basketball isn’t going to take me the rest of my life. Maybe, at max, four or five more years. Is four of five years of basketball worth 50 years of my life?”

And, it meant he would not have shared his story that he’s made his senior project to help raise awareness and funds for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy research, capped off with HCM Awareness Night on Tuesday when Camas hosts Skyview.

It’s all part of how Hansel’s turned his life-changing ordeal into a positive outlook. And while the Papermakers lost their reigning all-league and All-Region point guard as a player, they gained a person who Gillispie describes as the face of Camas basketball.

“Basketball needs Jake more than Jake needs basketball,” Gillispie said.

A family issue

Heart issues run in the Hansel family. Both of his grandfathers had prior heart conditions. That’s why Hansel’s pediatrician urged him and his younger brother, Bryan, get an electrocardiogram (EKG) as part of their routine physicals before last season.

The results of Jake’s EKG, plus an eventual echocardiogram (a sonogram of the heart) showed small abnormalities, but no cause for alarm, said Ken Hansel, Jake’s father.

Jake was cleared to play his junior year, but follow-up testing was recommended after 2015-16 season.

Still the only ninth grader to make the varsity roster in Gillispie’s six-year tenure, Jake had a big junior season after helping Camas break a half-century state tournament drought in 2015. He earned 4A Greater St. Helens League all-league first-team honors and helped the Papermakers rebound from a 1-6 start to reach the postseason again. This was all while showing zero symptoms of any heart issues or concerns.

But March 2016 is what Becky called the big month of testing at Portland’s Oregon Health and Science University. An MRI confirmed results from a second echocardiogram: the heart’s apex — located at the bottom and responsible for regulating ventricular contraction and sending and receiving signals from the heart’s atrial nodes — was enlarged and not functioning efficiently.

Jake’s official diagnosis is apical nonobstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, and high-impact physical activity, such as basketball, puts athletes at risk for sudden cardiac arrest, and even death.

Nine OHSU specialists — surgeons, cardiologists, image technicians — reviewed Jake’s case. Ken Hansel was candid, asking pediatric cardiologist Dr. Robin Shaughnessy how many of the team members would allow his eldest son to play basketball if Jake were their own.

All nine said no.

“Even it was one (yes) out of 9,” Ken Hansel said, “We were like, ‘No way.’ ”

Jake was done.

Staying connected

Fellow Camas seniors Tanner Fogle and Levi Gilstrap talk about their point guard as if he were their blood brother: a selfless, hard-working player who takes pride in assists as he does playing defense.

For Fogle, when hearing Jake was unable to lace it up anymore, he cried.

“It was some of the worst news I’ve ever gotten,” he recalled.

Jake’s own rough patch lasted a few weeks. Basketball became his lifeblood in sixth grade when he strived to be one of Clark County’s finest.

Support poured in. Even college coaches who didn’t know Jake reached out through Gillispie.

“That speaks volumes” about him, Gillispie said.

The support stretched locally, too. Skyview athletic director Luke LeCount, who coached with Gillispie at Hockinson, sent a letter of support to Jake. Its last line reads in part, “Let us know if we can ever help.”

The letter warmed Becky Hansel’s heart, but also, she planted a seed in her son’s head. Remember that, she told him.

What can we do to thank Skyview and do something for the greater good?

“It was meant to be,” she said.

Through months of planning, organization and outreach efforts, Jake’s big night is Tuesday when Camas hosts Skyview for HCM Awareness Night. His end-all goal is to bring awareness for a genetic disease that affects 1 in 500 people that while treatment options can improvements in qualify of life, there is no cure.

He’s proud of the nearly $8,000 raised for OHSU’s Knight Cardiovascular Institute since September. He hopes that number climbs to more than $10,000 by Tuesday after the T-shirts he helped design — 120 apiece in Skyview and Camas school colors sold last week and on sale at Tuesday’s game — plus items donated by local businesses and community members raffled off Tuesday to benefit OHSU.

When asked about facing adversity, Jake said it’s important how you react to it, not the adversity itself.

“You can be afraid and scared of things,” he said, “but you don’t have to let it break you.

“The most constructive way you face it is challenging it.”

Bridging the gap

Jake Hansel will continue to have annual screenings for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. He’s cleared to participate in activities such as swimming, light jogging — he could run a marathon, he said — and low-impact weight lifting.

Keeping involved in Camas basketball for his senior season was key, and that competitive outlet he now gets as a different role: assistant coach. While he admits it’s been a big adjustment, he’s thankful he has a void that’s filled. Jake also remains a strong student; his 3.99 grade-point average ranks 14th in his senior class of more than 500 students.

“If I wasn’t participating (in basketball) in some way,” he said, “I’d have nothing to bridge that gap. That’s why I’m thankful for my teammates and coaches for being there.”

And seeing Jake take this all in stride, Fogle, his friend and teammate since middle school, tips his hat. He says he’s grateful he still sees one of his best friends daily at practice and on game days on the bench right beside him.

This all brings out Jake’s character, too.

“It shows how much love he has for the game,” Fogle said, “and for us.

“I know he’s going to go off and doing something great.”

Did you know ?

— At the Tuesday, Jan. 16 Skyview-Camas boys basketball game, Jake Hansel will host Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM) Awareness Night at Camas. T-shirts will be sold that will benefit OHSU’s Knight Cardiovascular Institute. The game is at 7 p.m. at Camas High School.

— For those who would like to make a contribution on Jake’s behalf, you can do here.