Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is a relatively rare heart condition, affecting 1 in 500 people. Yet it’s the most common cause of sudden cardiac death in young athletes, especially in sports like football, soccer, basketball, and track. The thickened and stiff heart muscle characteristic of HCM makes intense exercise risky because it reduces the amount of blood the heart can take in and push out with each heartbeat. While most people with HCM live without major limitations, it’s critical that athletes at any level living with HCM take precautions with exercise and stay in touch with their healthcare team to keep them safe.

Raising awareness of HCM in sports not only helps increase recognition of HCM symptoms (such as shortness of breath, chest pain, heart palpitations, and fainting) but also highlights the role of screening, both of which may save lives.

Here we highlight five inspiring athletes living with HCM whose incredible stories show that an HCM diagnosis can bring new perspectives and a sense of purpose.

1. Jared Butler

Jared Butler is a professional basketball player who learned he had HCM from a physical exam just before embarking on his college basketball career. “I had never heard the term before. I was worried what this would mean for my playing career — and ultimately my life,” Butler told ABC News. After Butler’s diagnosis, his mother, Juanea, learned that she unknowingly carried the genetic mutation responsible for HCM.

“I find myself lucky that I do not have symptoms and I can continue playing basketball.”

— NBA player Jared Butler, on his HCM diagnosis

Butler continues to compete but is closely monitored, in line with a plan he, his family, and his team made with his doctors. Butler’s cardiologist noted that the plan involves frequent reassessment and alterations as needed.

Butler acknowledged that being diagnosed with HCM changed his life, but he also expressed gratitude for where he is now: “I find myself lucky that I do not have symptoms and I can continue playing basketball.”

Butler and his mother launched a campaign called Could It Be HCM? to raise awareness of HCM and help others who may unknowingly have the condition.

2. Fabrice Muamba

A former professional soccer player for the Bolton Wanderers, Fabrice Muamba is a survivor of sudden cardiac arrest due to HCM. Muamba collapsed on the field during an FA Cup quarterfinal game. Muamba was resuscitated after 26 shocks from an automated external defibrillator (AED).

“Life for me now is about my wife, my family, my work, and enjoying every precious day.”

— Former pro soccer player Fabrice Muamba on life after an HCM diagnosis.

Muamba’s HCM diagnosis led to early retirement and a new focus: his family and coaching youth soccer. “When something like that happens, you are always going to be remembered for it and I was, am, and will always be thankful and grateful for the care and support I had back then. But life for me now is about my wife, my family, my work, and enjoying every precious day,” Muamba told HELLO! Magazine.

Muamba is a fierce advocate for increasing access to defibrillators, which saved his life. “No one realizes how important a defibrillator is until they are in a situation where they need one — the difference of having one could be life or death,” Muamba told the Mirror. Muamba has supported legislation that would require defibrillators in workplaces, public venues, and schools, highlighting their lifesaving potential.

After learning his three sons inherited the gene behind HCM, Muamba and his wife, Shauna, made the difficult decision to pull their sons from a prestigious soccer training academy to keep them safe and help reduce the risk of heart problems.

3. Hillary Glover

Hillary Glover competed at the collegiate level in diving after an HCM diagnosis in high school forced her to stop swimming. “When those words came out of [the doctor’s] mouth I felt like the world had frozen, and suddenly it all came crashing down on me in a billion little pieces. ‘No more swimming?’ I squeaked out, and then I couldn’t hold it in any longer. I broke down and sobbed,” Glover noted, recounting the day she was diagnosed with HCM.

Despite being crushed that her swimming career was over, Glover pushed to stay involved in the sport. When deciding on colleges, she looked for ones that would let her be part of the swim team in some capacity, outside the pool. A coach at Calvin University, seeing her desire to participate, proposed a different opportunity: diving.

Glover acknowledges that even with a less intensive sport, she still had to be careful. “We had to go through a lot of hoops and hurdles. There was a waiver I had to sign, and I’m under many restrictions. I can’t push my heart rate above 140 or else I am pushing the limits on my heart,” Glover said, remembering her experience being cleared by her doctor to dive.

Glover’s HCM diagnosis pushed her out of the sport she loved, but it also led her to find new passions and perspectives. “In high school, swimming was my life,” Glover said. “[Learning to dive] has opened my eyes to what else is out there.”

4. Journey Brown

Journey Brown, a former running back for Penn State, learned he had HCM during the offseason of his junior year. Considered one of the most important players on Penn State’s offense, Brown was heartbroken to retire early. “The pain of not being able to play the game I love anymore hurts and I can’t explain how I am feeling right now,” Brown wrote on the social platform X, announcing his retirement.

Brown’s identity and dreams were so tightly intertwined with football that it was difficult to move forward. “When I got pulled out of [football], I didn’t know who I was because I always thought I was a football player,” Brown told Fox Sports. “But my family, my friends reminded me that I’m more than that.”

Brown’s HCM diagnosis didn’t keep him out of sports. It just changed which one. Brown was recruited by Trackhouse Racing, a motorsport team that competes in NASCAR, where he’s part of the pit crew. “For me, it’s like a different type of feeling. It’s like a whole new high that I really get to experience,” Brown said of the transition.

Brown acknowledged that nothing compares to football, his “first love,” and he continues to follow Penn State football and stay in touch with the coaches. But he also has found some peace and satisfaction in his new sport, saying, “I’m happy I’m here, I’m having a lot of fun pitting for Trackhouse and doing this type of stuff. So it’s a very, very fun alternative.”

5. Omar Carter

When Omar Carter, a former semipro basketball player was feeling fatigued before a pro-am game, he shook it off, thinking it was simply a result of his intense training. On the court that day, Carter collapsed. A bystander rushed onto the court to administer CPR and shocks via an AED that restarted Butler’s heart. Carter was transferred to a hospital where he woke up from a coma a few days later.

Basketball player Omar Carter started a foundation to raise awareness of cardiovascular health and provide CPR and AED training to help save lives.

Carter’s doctors put in an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD), which detects and corrects dangerous heart rhythms by resetting a normal rhythm. “In the beginning, you think, is this going to happen again? I was nervous, I was scared. But the ICD is like an insurance policy,” Carter said. “I forget that it’s even there.”

For Carter, his HCM diagnosis meant an end to his basketball career, and he struggled to cope. “The first few months were really hard,” Carter told the American Heart Association. “I had been ‘Omar Carter the basketball player’ for 25 years. I had to start over.”

Encouraged by his mother, Stephanie, to focus his energy on an organization to help other athletes, Carter started his own: the Omar Carter Foundation. The foundation raises awareness of cardiovascular health and provides CPR and AED training to help save lives.

Seeing other athletes experience sudden cardiac arrest shakes Carter, “But it’s a reminder of why the foundation is so important,” he said. “It’s a way for me to cope, to tell my story, and to stay on track teaching those lifesaving techniques.”

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