Story by Kelsey Randolph, Sports Editor
Before the season began, men’s basketball Head Coach Matt McMahon knew he could count on sophomore guard Kedrick Flomo to be a reliable player. Two weeks before the start of the non-conference play, Flomo was rushed to the Vanderbilt University Medical Center for emergency heart surgery.
Almost three months later Flomo walked into the CFSB Center with high energy, shaking the hands of his teammates.
EMERGENCY SURGERY
Flomo said he just felt tired and ultimately went to Murray State Health Services for a check up. He was told he might have a heart murmur and then went to talk to his trainer who was also under the impression it was a heart murmur. The trainer sent Flomo to the Murray-Calloway County Hospital for further testing and the results showed a failure in one of his heart valves. Immediately after, Flomo was rushed to Vanderbilt for further testing and surgery.
“My parents were scared, and when I found out I tried to find out as much as I could,” Flomo said. “But I got faith in God.”
REHABILITATION
Almost immediately, Flomo was back on social media alerting friends he was OK.
For the next month and a half, he returned back to his North Carolina home for rehab, which included minor cardio workouts with therapists.
He will return for a doctor’s appointment on Feb. 1 for more information, but Flomo is confident he will return for next season. He said doctors have been supportive in his decision as well.
WHAT’S NEXT
In his down time, Flomo made use of an NBA access pass to watch basketball games, did research on his condition and discovered he’s not the only one who has bounced back from heart surgery. He was confident after discovering former NBA stars have recovered from similar situations.
Flomo’s biggest hope is that he does something to inspire others.
“I try my best to look forward,” he said. “It’s a situation that doesn’t really happen, and I hope it inspires them to go hard on the court. You have to take everything one day at a time. You never know what will happen or when it will happen.”
Flomo is enrolled back in classes and hopes to declare a major after the semester. He is currently interested in business and advertising. He said during the week he’s focusing on his schoolwork and on the weekend, he’ll be dancing in the locker room trying to lift the spirits of his team.
Teammate and senior forward Wayne Langston said it’s been a true testament of what forward thinking can do for someone.
“Everybody is just happy that he is back,” Langston said. “As you can see, he’s back on the warm up line shaking everybody’s hand. It just gives everybody a sense of confidence.”