[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 4]
[House]
[Page 4705]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




      UNTIMELY DEATH OF HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL STAR, JOHN STEWART

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Indiana (Ms. Carson) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. CARSON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my support and 
sympathy for the family of John Stewart, a young Indianapolis man who 
promised to bring glory to the game of basketball. Unfortunately and 
most tragically, last Friday night he collapsed at a basketball game 
and died from an undetected enlarged heart.
  John Stewart just turned 18 years old, was an amazing young man 
gifted with enormous natural talent and he used those talents to the 
fullest. He was very friendly, had a good sense of humor. He was loved 
by both students and teachers at Lawrence North High School. He 
measured a full 7 feet tall and tipped the scales at nearly 300 pounds.
  From 1995 to 1997, John was a ball boy for the Indiana Pacers. The 
Pacers continued to provide John Stewart with shoes even after his days 
with the team because his feet were so large his family had a hard time 
finding shoes that would fit him. It was reminiscent of Shaquille 
O'Neal, who had given his shoes to a young man not because they could 
not afford to buy size 16-17 shoes but because in the marketplace those 
sizes were very difficult to locate. John Stewart had led Lawrence 
North 24 to 2, with 22 points and 13 rebounds. The third-quarter 
numbers were 10 points and 7 rebounds.
  The case of John Stewart reminds us how imperative it is to 
understand before kids enter the world of athletics, especially 
something as strenuous as basketball, that they have to have a thorough 
heart evaluation to forego a cardiac condition called hypertrophic 
cardiomyopathy. It is a disease of the heart that has some genetic 
tendencies. It causes a very enlarged heart. The normal treatment for 
that, of course, is to avoid strenuous physical activity.
  John Stewart was second-ranked Lawrence North's star center. He 
collapsed Friday during the Wildcats' Class 4A regional championship 
game with Bloomington South at Columbus. Unfortunately, he never 
regained consciousness. He had also been awarded a scholarship to 
attend the University of Kentucky during the next school season.
  So I wanted to say on behalf of the many people who will not have an 
opportunity to express their support for the John Stewart family, his 
mother, his father, his sisters, his brothers, his aunts and his 
grandparents, and to all of the students who are in shock and in 
bereavement at Lawrence North that there is a passage of scripture that 
often refers to a situation like this in that ``death has no democracy, 
it visits anyone regardless of what their ages are.''
  But it could be that John Stewart's life was cut off prematurely to 
alert this Congress, this country, to the need for allowing children to 
have thorough heart examinations before they go in. The passage of 
scriptures says that perhaps John may have laid down his life so that 
others may live.
  In closing, Mr. Speaker and Members of the House, I would simply 
recall for the John Stewart bereaved family at this time the words that 
the poet who reminds all of us, ``for every drop of rain that falls a 
flower grows''; and certainly John Stewart has brought in the rain 
where a flower will grow, and said, ``somewhere in the darkest night a 
candle glows.''
  John Stewart's remains will be laid to rest on Friday. And 
unfortunately, I cannot attend the Hershey event with my colleagues 
because I will be attending John Stewart's going home services if you 
will. But he does remind me that for every drop of rain that falls a 
flower grows and somewhere in the darkest night that a candle glows.
  I know wherever John Stewart's spirit is at this time, regardless of 
the pain that his departure has left, that his candle will continue to 
glow through the minds and the hearts of the John Stewart family and 
the Lawrence North High School community.

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