Shaquille O’Neal Opened Up on Son Shareef’s Battle With Heart Issues Days After Damar Hamlin News: “Make Sure It Never Happened Again”

Professional sports tend to bring out the competitive side of people. Be it the players or the fans, everything revolves around winning. However, there are certain moments that make people realize sports is just a part of something bigger; Life. Damar Hamlin’s cardiac arrest proved to be that moment. Everyone’s prayers were heard as Hamlin recovered and was discharged from the hospital a couple of days ago. NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal also had a similar moment a few years ago when his son, Shareef, went through his own medical issues.

On the latest episode of ‘The Big Podcast‘, O’Neal opened up about his son’s battle with heart issues. After advising Hamlin to take a couple of years off to recover properly, the hosts wondered whether it would be right for Hamlin to come back at all.

This led to co-host, Nischelle Turner, asking Shaq about his son’s situation. O’Neal praised UCLA for discovering the condition and revealed that they got multiple opinions from different professionals. “Then we determined that it will always happen and we could just take care of it to where it never happens again“, O’Neal said.

Shareef suffered a big setback due to health issues

Shareef was a bright prospect gearing up to play for the UCLA Bruins in 2018. However, he started having health issues that summer and eventually had to go through heart surgery, which slowed down his push toward replicating his father in the NBA.

Shaq disclosed that Shareef suffered from this condition since his childhood days. Shareef would ask Shaq to feel his chest whenever he went through a situation like that. The Los Angeles Lakers legend revealed that he had never felt something like that. Initial opinions from doctors suggested that it was common in kids.

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Even though it was different from what Shareef went through in 2018, Shaq wondered whether Shareef still thought about it. O’Neal said, “If I do something and blow my knee out if I make the same move and feel it, I’m like, ‘Oh here we go again I’m gonna blow my knee out.'”

Damar Hamlin is out of the hospital

While it was a scary moment for Hamlin and his family, it is great to see the Buffalo Bills‘ safety recovering. He was discharged from the hospital on January 11th, just 9 days after his cardiac arrest on the field. The incident united the world in praying for the safety and well-being of Hamlin and his family.

It certainly made many people rethink their priorities. It’s never good to see someone going through such a difficult period.

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We can only hope Hamlin recovers well and whether he wants to come back to the field someday is completely up to him. However, that won’t be his priority at this point, and rightfully so.