Camp Champion: Heart problem linked to lifeguard's death

By CHRIS PORTER • Daily Tribune Staff

AUSTIN - A previously undiagnosed heart problem may have contributed to the July 29 drowning of a Camp Champions lifeguard on Lake LBJ, according to an autopsy from the Travis County Medical Examiner’s Office.

Ryan Hunter Dickerson, 18, was pronounced dead at Burnet’s Seton Highland Lakes Hospital after he was found floating face-down in 1 foot of water near his post at the summer camp, officials said.

Drowning was ruled as the cause of death.

A July 30 autopsy performed by Dr. R.E. Kohlmeir revealed several previously undetected abnormalities within Dickerson’s heart, according to an autopsy report released Tuesday by Burnet County Justice of the Peace James McElroy.

“Mild abnormalities within the heart and lungs suggest a possible underlying problem that may have led to a fatal cardiac arrhythmia,” the report said.

Dickerson also had a history of asthma, the report said. The autopsy did not find any evidence of drug or alcohol use.

Sudden arrhythmia death syndrome is caused by a previously undetected irregular heartbeat, and can lead to an immediate stoppage of the heart. According to the Sudden Arrhythmia Death Syndrome Foundation of the United States, more than 3,300 young people die from the condition each year. There is no known cure.

Dickerson was seen July 29 standing in about 3 1/2 feet of water, waiting for campers near the bottom of a slide going into Lake LBJ, Camp Champions owner Steve Baskin said. Two counselors who were with Dickerson had just left him to return to their stations when they looked back and discovered he wasn’t there. They assumed he had gone to change clothes or to the restroom, Baskin said. The counselors, who were about 50 feet away, then realized Dickerson was in the water. He was found as short time later.

Camp staff performed CPR on Dickerson while waiting for paramedics to arrive, but Baskin said it was clear their efforts were too late.

“We realized that we had lost Ryan,” Baskin said in an earlier interview. “We and the paramedics had performed CPR for about 35 minutes, and the EMTs said we had done wonderful jobs. They said they would continue CPR for another few minutes while they took him to the hospital, where we expected he would be pronounced (dead).”

Dickerson, a certified lifeguard and water polo player, had been working at the camp for eight days before his death.

He was the son of Ron and Lynn Dickerson of Modesto, Calif. Lynn Dickerson, a former Texas newspaper publisher, is vice president of operations for McClatchy Co., a newspaper conglomerate that owns more than 20 publications across the country.

chris@thepicayune.com

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Camp Champion: Heart problem linked
to lifeguard's death