KUALA LUMPUR – “I felt the chest pains, like being hit like a pole. Then I started having difficulties breathing, then, BAM! I passed out.”
Kyrhen Angel Bretana Dimaandal, a member of the national women’s team, described what happened Friday afternoon during practice.
“Then, I woke up beside a baby,” said the 20-year-old Dimaandal who was surprised that she was unconscious for nearly two hours. “I thought I was away for just 20 minutes.”
Dimaandal was rushed to the hospital where doctors advised her to stay overnight for more tests.
But her father, here with his wife, told attending doctors that Kyrhen is better off with teammates at the hotel.
The morning after, Kyrhen was in playful, jovial mood at the breakfast table.
Kyrhen said her chest still hurts from the pumping she received to wake her up.
“When I woke up, I couldn’t feel my lips probably because of dehydration. After about 20 minutes, I was able to take biscuits offered by our physical therapists,” she said.
Kyrhen said it was not the first time that she passed out.
“I was born with this. Congenital. The last time I lost consciousness was during my first year in college,” said Kyrhen who is a fifth year BS Biology student at La Salle.
The bespectacled La Salle standout described how her father was calm while talking with the team’s physical therapist.
“The PT was freaking out, but my father was very calm,” she said.
Kyrhen blamed herself for not bringing her medications.