The memory of Victor Sims still lives in the Dutch Fork community.

In 3 years as a starting Silver Fox swingman, he earned All-State honors and led the program to its 1st ever region title and Class 4A title game.

Sims’ life was cut short at age 18 in April 2003 when he collapsed while practicing at Dreher High.

He died of cardiac arrhythmia (rapid heart rate) due to an enlarged heart.

Today, his jersey and picture are framed in the school’s Athletics Hallway.

Sims’ parents, Victor Sr. and Patricia Ann, and alumnus Murphy Holloway hold an annual Memorial Basketball Clinic in Sims’ honor.

In 2004, Sims’ parents played an important role in getting heart screening tests at several Chronicle Country schools.

Dutch Fork High was 1 of the schools.

Life saver

Those tests quite possibly saved his life, White Knoll wrestling coach and Dutch Fork alumnus Kyle Kimrey said.

“He influenced me,” said Kimrey about his former middle school football teammate. “I have a chance now to regulate and monitor my heart.

“Had I not known my condition, maybe I don’t get to see my kids do special things down the road. That’s the ultimate goal. You want to live a long, healthy life and I’m sure his story has impacted greatly in the basketball community.He was a phenomenal basketball player and it shook the basketball world up and the Dutch Fork area up, too. I’m sure that his story has impacted way more than just people like me.”

Mass screenings

Kimrey was a junior when Sims passed away.

The next summer, Sims’ parents got together with Heartfelt, a nonprofit organization founded in 1999 by Holly Morrell whose goal is to bring public awareness and use of early detection to prevent sudden cardiac arrest.

Their website is https://heartfeltscreening.org .

Through their foundation, the Sims were able to bring in volunteer doctors to perform mass heart screenings of local student-athletes.

This included performing electrocardiograph (EKG) and ultrasound tests.

“The tests are so expensive, money-wise, and these doctors donated the materials and everything to do it with,” former Dutch Fork head football coach and athletics director Bill Kimrey said.

“It was a large group of doctors doing it.”

Expensive tests

According to Sims, such tests out of pocket could cost as much as $2,300. For the Kimreys, it proved to be timely.

“They’re triple-checking,” Kyle Kimrey said. “They’re calling the doctor over and ‘Oh, this isn’t good.”

It turned out Kimrey was diagnosed with a bicuspid aortic valve.

According to the Mayo Clinic, this is the result of the aortic valve — located between the lower left heart chamber (left ventricle) and the main artery that leads to the body (aorta) — has only 2 (bicuspid) cusps instead of 3.

This will cause narrowing of the heart, reducing blood flow to the heart.

Kimrey was able to continue wrestling as a competitor and later serving as head coach at his alma mater and at White Knoll High the past 4 seasons.

‘I’m blessed’

While Kimrey has maintained a relatively normal life, he’s had to receive regular monitoring of his heart. His condition may eventually require an aortic valve replacement

Ironically, his cardiologist, Leon Khoury, also played football for Kimrey’s father at Cardinal Newman.

“I’m blessed that when I was 18 that summer I got my heart checked because I don’t know if I didn’t have that test if I would have ever gotten tested for my heart” he said.

“Then, I wouldn’t have never known I had this condition. So, we could be sitting here 5 years from now and something drastic had happened because I was continually wrestling and lifting weights and things I’m not supposed to be doing.

For Bill Kimrey, the discovery was in his words a “double-edged sword” given the circumstances.

“It was terrible that it happened, but I’m appreciative that we were able to get the tests because of it and find out about my son and the other athletes, too,” he said.

“It’s a terrible thing that happened, but you’re also grateful that you were able to help other people.

As Kimrey continues to coach, he encourages his wrestlers to “get checked” regularly.

“If you know that you have something that’s going on and you’re blindly kind of turning your back to it, at the end of the day it’s not helping you out,” he said.

The Sims calso ontinue to work with Heartfelt to raise awareness on heart issues to prevent such a tragedy from befalling another family.