Old Dominion Basketball Player Collapses During Game, Tugs At Chest While On The Ground

On Saturday night, the Old Dominion men’s basketball team experienced a scare when one of their players, Imo Essien, collapsed on the court during the game against Georgia Southern. Emergency medical personnel immediately rushed to his side and thankfully he was able to be helped to his feet and walked off the court with trainers. The university released a statement following the frightening incident which stated that throughout the entire episode, Essien had remained responsive. 

Fortunately for everyone involved in Saturday's situation, it appears that no serious harm came to Essien; however it is still unclear exactly what caused him to collapse during play or why he tugged at his chest as emergency personnel attended to him. Old Dominion officials are expected to release more information once they get results from any tests conducted on Essien following Saturday's events. 

What we do know is that Imo Essien managed to make it off of the court safely after experiencing what appears to be now some sort of common medical emergency for athletes during play. 

"Imo Essien was evaluated by the ODU Athletic Training staff along with the GA Southern medical staff," the school said. "He was responsive throughout and was able to sit with the team for the duration of the game and drove home with the team.

Before this season began, Essien joined Old Dominion and has since increased his minutes per game from an average of 1.2 points up to 5.4 points per game.