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First post here, been reading the forum for a while, saw no one has posted this article. I'm quite proud to have this guy at our club.
The private torment that drives Roosters star Latrell Mitchell.
MICHAEL CARAYANNIS, The Sunday
IT’S the private torment driving Roosters young gun Latrell Mitchell to make a change.
Mitchell was left heartbroken by the death last year of his 16-year-old cousin Nathanial Slater, due to an undiagnosed heart condition.
“Out of the blue and bang,” Mitchell said of his cousin.
“We didn’t know what it was. It was weird. Something you couldn’t explain. All his vitals, kidneys started shutting down. He started getting better for a bit then all of a sudden we got a phone call, he had passed away.
“We were pretty close. I grew up with his family and we went to school together.”
Mitchell had seen his cousin just before he was hospitalised. It was on a routine visit back to Taree where he grew up, where he saw a happy and smiling Nathanial.
Latrell Mitchell emerged as a star in his rookie season.
“I went back to my old school and I saw him,” Mitchell said.
“I saw him in one of the Aboriginal rooms there and we were chilling out and having a laugh. Then all of a sudden (he was dead) and it was a shock to everyone.”
Mitchell played on despite the family heartache in just his first season of first grade. He featured in a match for the Roosters just days later, scoring a try in their 37-12 loss to Cronulla on August 27.
“It was hard at the time because you’ve lost one of your family members,” Mitchell said.
“I put it into motivation as well. I needed to go out and play and do my thing.
“It was emotional. I scored a try and got a bit teary. There was something going on in my life but I had something to do. I switched off and just focused on football but used it as motivation.”
It was not the first time Mitchell’s family had been impacted by a health scare. When Mitchell was just 10 he thought his dad, Matt was going to die.
Latrell Mitchell is driving change.
“It was scary because I thought ‘this is where I’m going to lose my dad’,” Mitchell said.
“We got a scare one day. He was getting chest pains. They wouldn’t go away for a few days. He ended up going to the hospital and he wasn’t home for a couple of days. I thought this was it.”
These life experiences prompted Mitchell to front the St Vincent’s Hospital Heart Health campaign for indigenous people. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders are three times more likely than non-indigenous Australians to have a heart attack and 1.3 times more likely to have cardiovascular disease.
At the tender age of 19, Mitchell is driving change.
“Being Aboriginal, they are stubborn against seeing doctors,” Mitchell said. “They are scared. You get crook and we’re like ‘nah don’t worry we’ll be right’ and it tends to get worse. We take that gamble. I want to get the message out there that we aren’t immune to sugars. We are still getting diabetes and heart disease. I want people to know it’s all right to get help and don’t be scared.
“The earlier you can get in the better. Act quickly instead of taking on the consequences yourself.”
Latrell Mitchell wants to use his profile to help others.
The web-based portal sees an emotional Mitchell speak about his experiences in dealing with his family’s heart scares.
The resource is designed to give users a better understanding of their conditions and treatments available.
“My family members didn’t have an NRL player to help them,” Mitchell said.
“I put my hand up to help. I’m building my profile so I can help people. It’s what I want to do.”
St Vincent’s Health Australia spokesman David Faktor said that having Mitchell lead the campaign would produce instant results.
“Heart disease is a particularly big problem within indigenous communities and there are a lot of preventive actions we can take to reduce the damage it is doing,” Faktor said.
“Having an inspirational champion like Latrell, who has been touched first hand by heart disease, is really important in communicating the message that we can do a lot more to tackle this disease.”
The private torment that drives Roosters star Latrell Mitchell.
MICHAEL CARAYANNIS, The Sunday
IT’S the private torment driving Roosters young gun Latrell Mitchell to make a change.
Mitchell was left heartbroken by the death last year of his 16-year-old cousin Nathanial Slater, due to an undiagnosed heart condition.
“Out of the blue and bang,” Mitchell said of his cousin.
“We didn’t know what it was. It was weird. Something you couldn’t explain. All his vitals, kidneys started shutting down. He started getting better for a bit then all of a sudden we got a phone call, he had passed away.
“We were pretty close. I grew up with his family and we went to school together.”
Mitchell had seen his cousin just before he was hospitalised. It was on a routine visit back to Taree where he grew up, where he saw a happy and smiling Nathanial.
Latrell Mitchell emerged as a star in his rookie season.
“I went back to my old school and I saw him,” Mitchell said.
“I saw him in one of the Aboriginal rooms there and we were chilling out and having a laugh. Then all of a sudden (he was dead) and it was a shock to everyone.”
Mitchell played on despite the family heartache in just his first season of first grade. He featured in a match for the Roosters just days later, scoring a try in their 37-12 loss to Cronulla on August 27.
“It was hard at the time because you’ve lost one of your family members,” Mitchell said.
“I put it into motivation as well. I needed to go out and play and do my thing.
“It was emotional. I scored a try and got a bit teary. There was something going on in my life but I had something to do. I switched off and just focused on football but used it as motivation.”
It was not the first time Mitchell’s family had been impacted by a health scare. When Mitchell was just 10 he thought his dad, Matt was going to die.
Latrell Mitchell is driving change.
“It was scary because I thought ‘this is where I’m going to lose my dad’,” Mitchell said.
“We got a scare one day. He was getting chest pains. They wouldn’t go away for a few days. He ended up going to the hospital and he wasn’t home for a couple of days. I thought this was it.”
These life experiences prompted Mitchell to front the St Vincent’s Hospital Heart Health campaign for indigenous people. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders are three times more likely than non-indigenous Australians to have a heart attack and 1.3 times more likely to have cardiovascular disease.
At the tender age of 19, Mitchell is driving change.
“Being Aboriginal, they are stubborn against seeing doctors,” Mitchell said. “They are scared. You get crook and we’re like ‘nah don’t worry we’ll be right’ and it tends to get worse. We take that gamble. I want to get the message out there that we aren’t immune to sugars. We are still getting diabetes and heart disease. I want people to know it’s all right to get help and don’t be scared.
“The earlier you can get in the better. Act quickly instead of taking on the consequences yourself.”
Latrell Mitchell wants to use his profile to help others.
The web-based portal sees an emotional Mitchell speak about his experiences in dealing with his family’s heart scares.
The resource is designed to give users a better understanding of their conditions and treatments available.
“My family members didn’t have an NRL player to help them,” Mitchell said.
“I put my hand up to help. I’m building my profile so I can help people. It’s what I want to do.”
St Vincent’s Health Australia spokesman David Faktor said that having Mitchell lead the campaign would produce instant results.
“Heart disease is a particularly big problem within indigenous communities and there are a lot of preventive actions we can take to reduce the damage it is doing,” Faktor said.
“Having an inspirational champion like Latrell, who has been touched first hand by heart disease, is really important in communicating the message that we can do a lot more to tackle this disease.”
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