Bailey Stanley discovered her condition during a required screening, something that likely saved her life.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A North Carolina teen athlete and her family say she is alive today thanks to a free health screening she needed to play school sports.
17-year-old Bailey Stanley almost didn’t do the additional test, but doctors say it may have saved her life.
Stanley and her identical twin sister are pretty much the same, except for this one big thing that could have killed her.
“Sometimes in class, like I would just be sitting there and I would feel my heart start beating really fast, and it was scary because I didn’t know what was going on,” she said.
The East Wilkes High School senior is an accomplished athlete. She plays volleyball, basketball, runs track, and dances.
“While I was competing, it would worsen,” Stanley said. “So it wouldn’t just be the rapid heart rate, it would also be chest pain — my chest would feel really tight while I was trying to play my sports.”
She brushed it off, but at the start of the school year, she needed a screening to be allowed to play sports. Like so many students across our area, she got a free screening from Atrium Health.
Dr. David Lawrence is a Pediatric Cardiologist at Levine Children’s Hospital in Charlotte who performed surgery on Bailey.
“She was discovered during a sports screening to have what’s called Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome, which is a cardiac condition in which patients have an extra little electrical connection in their heart that can set them up for abnormal heart rhythms,” he explained.
“There was one time I actually felt it,” Stanley said. “I thought that something was really wrong. I was in about sixth grade when I was doing track, doing travel basketball, but they said that if it got to that point, that I could have maybe a heart attack.”
Dr. Lawrence performed surgery on Bailey to fix the issue and said her condition can sometimes be fatal if not treated.
“Most patients with Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome will have symptoms of a random, rapid, fast heart rate. There are some patients, however, that can be set up for cardiac arrest or even sudden death,” he said.
The surgery to fix it is relatively simple. The key is the screening that finds the condition.
“It’s life-changing for the patient and life-altering. And for us, it’s the most gratifying feeling and all knowing that we have allowed a patient to be able to continue to live their life as normal without that risk,” Lawrence said.
“I feel this relief, like I’m not worried about it,” Stanley said. “I don’t feel that pain, and I don’t feel just that tightness, and it’s just been a really big relief.”
Thanks to her up close and personal look at the world of medicine, Stanley said she wants to be a surgeon someday.
