Wash. State coach 'blessed' to be on sidelines again after cardiac arrest

1/4/2008 10:09 AM

By NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS
Associated Press Writer

PULLMAN, Wash. (AP) - June Daugherty had just pulled up to her doctor's office. The Washington State women's basketball coach then slumped over the wheel of her car. She was in cardiac arrest.

Her 13-year-old daughter ran inside, and a team of cardiac specialists rushed out. It took them seven shocks to get her heart beating.

``Having 14 cardiologists come out and revive me was pretty lucky,'' Daugherty said, recalling that May 22 escape.

Now the 51-year-old coach is back on the sidelines, her first season at Washington State. She has taken over a team that is 3-10 and hasn't had a winning season since 1995-96.

``We've seen improvement,'' Daugherty said. ``It takes time.''

As will her recovery.

``I'm learning to pace myself and adjust to medications,'' she said. ``Doctors say it takes a full year to get a full recovery.''

Daugherty tires easily and has eased up on her schedule. She delegates more to assistants, including her husband, Mike, the associate head coach.

``When you've been on life support for a few days, your life totally changes,'' Daugherty said. ``It's something you deal with each day and try to get stronger.''

Daugherty was fired after last season by Washington despite nine postseason appearances in 11 years and a 191-139 record. Administrators decided the program lacked buzz.

Washington State was looking for a new coach, and athletic director Jim Sterk surprised many by reaching across the state to hire Daugherty on April 20.

A month later she was fighting for her life.

Daugherty collapsed at The Everett Clinic, where she had gone to discuss treatment for her cardiomyopathy. A recent physical had revealed an abnormality in her heart rate, so a stress test was performed on May 21.

She was returning to the clinic the next day to discuss the results. Then she leaned over the wheel. Her daughter, Breanne, was in the car because she was sick that day and stayed home from school. She rushed for help.

Doctors shocked Daugherty's heart into rhythm. In the hospital, it became apparent Daugherty did not have a heart attack. Damage to the muscle was minimal, and doctors implanted a pacemaker and defibrillator.

The arrest was caused by a virus that settled in her heart, was not hereditary and not the result of any lifestyle choices, Daugherty said. Doctors think it will not recur.

``But I was hardwired to survive if it happens again,'' Daugherty said.

Daugherty, a basketball star at Ohio State in the mid-1970s, gave no thought to retiring from coaching.

``It didn't enter my mind,'' she said.

Her husband supports her return.

``He knows me well enough,'' she said. ``I need to be up and going and focused. I'm happiest when I am that way.''

Sterk assured Cougar fans Daugherty would remain coach. Daugherty had to reassure her players, who barely knew her.

Katie Appleton, WSU's leading scorer, recalled that players drifted into the basketball office the day of Daugherty's cardiac arrest, looking for scraps of news. It took only one team meeting in July, after Daugherty's release from the hospital, to put their fears to rest.

``She cleared up any questions,'' Appleton said. ``She said, 'I'm still going to coach.'''

``She's just tough,'' Appleton added. ``Won't ever show any weakness.''

Daugherty had a special resource in one of her former players, Kayla Burt, who rushed to her hospital room. Burt was a player for Washington in 2002 when her heart stopped on New Year's Eve during a party at her apartment.

Teammates performed CPR until paramedics arrived. Burt had a defibrillator implanted and returned to basketball. But the defibrillator went off during a game in 2006, and Burt retired from playing. She is now an assistant with the University of Portland.

``I'll call her with the dumbest questions,'' Daugherty said. ``At night I'll wake up and feel like I'm running. It's the pacemaker coming on.''

The two now share a unique bond of having gone into cardiac arrest outside a hospital and survived, which is rare.

``We've become real close because of it,'' Burt said.

The schedule did Daugherty no favors. She opened the Pac-10 season at No. 2 Stanford (losing 105-47) and at Cal (losing 99-44). On Friday, the Cougs host her former team, Washington. The Huskies (5-9) have won 24 straight games against Washington State, 23 of them under Daugherty.

The game will be the inaugural ``Cougs Have Heart,'' sponsored by Sacred Heart Medical Center and Children's Hospital of Spokane and The Hope Heart Institute of Seattle. It is designed to raise awareness of heart disease.

``I'm truly blessed to have a second chance in life,'' Daugherty said.