Heart condition linked to COVID is sidelining otherwise healthy young athletes

When Demi Washington was diagnosed with COVID-19 last fall, she had a few symptoms but never felt seriously ill.

"The only thing was, like, sniffles, congestion, but that was it," said the former Heritage High School basketball star now playing at Vanderbilt University.

But as she appeared to recover, the news got worse.

"When I did my MRI, there were traces of inflammation and scarring, and that's when I found out I had myocarditis," she said. It's an inflammation of the heart the affects some people who get COVID-19.

"All I heard was you can't play," Washington said. "Hearing that I couldn't play was like the worst, super-heartbreaking. There were immediate tears, and all I wanted to do was call my dad."

COVID myocarditis was first described in Germany.

He'll compare hearts of athletes with and without COVID-19. The results could help athletes and others understand the long-term risks.

"In general, they're going to have some of the strongest hearts on planet Earth," Patel said. "So if we start to identify abnormalities on those imaging studies, it'll be hard for us to not feel like at least COVID played a role."

Washington's doctor told her the same thing.

"The cardiologist was convinced I had it because of COVID," she said.

After a slow, cautious progression, Washington is back at practice. She's open about her experience with COVID-19 in hopes of helping others.

"Stories like mine, stories like other people, regular people who get super sick, it's important that they do tell their stories so that maybe people will take the virus a little bit more seriously," she said.