Town Rallies For Matawan Basketball Player Who Had A Heart Attack

MATAWAN, NJ — The Matawan-Aberdeen community is rallying around a varsity basketball player who collapsed suddenly during a practice on May 21. There will also be a community fundraiser tonight, Thursday, May 31, for Darrell Rogers at the Court Jester.

Rogers, 16, a sophomore at Matawan High, had suffered a sudden cardiac arrest due to an undiagnosed hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a common and hard-to-detect cause of sudden heart attacks in teen and young adult athletes. The basketball coaching staff at Matawan Regional High School created this GoFundMe page for Rogers, who they describe as a hard-working young kid who simply loved the game.

His recovery has been slow going: Rogers remains in the pediatric intensive care unit at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, according to the Asbury Park Press.

“He is slowly recovering, emphasis on slowly,” said Sean Sheppard, who coaches Rogers. He and Matawan High basketball coach John Giraldo spoke to the Asbury Park Press about Rogers' recovery in this article. “He had some brain damage and minor kidney damage due to lack of oxygen. He has to go through therapy to see where he’s at in terms of his recovery process.”

The collapse happened when Rogers went for a layup during an AAU basketball practice at Matawan-Aberdeen Middle School, according to the APP. Sheppard and another basketball coach, Chris Schuster, gave him CPR and he was rushed by helicopter to Robert Wood.

Rogers is a varsity starter for the Matawan-Aberdeen Huskies and it was his dream to play at the college level, according to his GoFundMe page.

“As a freshman he wasn’t a varsity player, but he just developed,” Coach Giraldo said, who called Rogers 'extremely coachable.' “He’s a basketball junkie, constantly working out, and he just kept getting better and better. At times he was our best player.”

"Day in and day out Darrell came to practices and games and worked as hard as he possibly could," his GoFundMe page read. "He has aspirations of being a Division 1 basketball player and was working his tail off to make that dream become a reality. Unfortunately, Darrell has come to a bump in the road. Please keep Darrell and his family in your thoughts and prayers."

Rogers has been breathing on his own since May 25 and he is alert when people come into his room at ICU, his coaches told the APP.

The medical expenses will be quite steep, his coaches said. "We are asking out of the kindness of your heart to please donate any extra penny that you may have," they wrote.

Tonight's fundraiser at the Court Jester goes from 6-10 p.m.

GoFundMe is a Patch partner