By MARIO AGUIRRE | STAFF WRITER
MISSION — Rene Diaz wasn’t sure he’d ever play basketball again. Not after suffering from cardiac arrest during practice one day in October 2013.
Diaz was on the verge of returning to Mission High after playing in Alice the previous year. His father’s job called for the family to move back to the Valley, and Diaz was adjusting to his new situation, before going down during a team practice one morning.
“He had a flat line,” Mission High coach Everardo Castellano said. “There was no pulse. It could’ve been 15 minutes (that he was out).”
The EMT arrived. Fire rescue later took over. Castellano hopped into the ambulance with Diaz before someone shouted “there’s a pulse!” on the way to the hospital.
What ensued were weeks of uncertainty.
“It was just a rollercoaster,” assistant coach Trey Henderson said. “You’re going up, you’re going down. You’re hearing all different types of things. But seeing him out here now, there’s not one day I don’t look at him and don’t think, ‘Wow, this guy’s here.’”
Diaz was initially told he wouldn’t play again without putting his health at risk. A Houston-area doctor, however, cleared Diaz in December, pending a surgical procedure to place an Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator (ICD) in his chest.
Within six months, Diaz was cleared by doctors to resume activity the following summer.
During that time, he attended games sparingly, his mind often wandering, thinking about what could have been. From afar, he supported the team, exchanging text messages with players. In return, they held prayers in his name before and after games.
Soon enough, Diaz showed up for open gyms at Mission High, with Castellano taking a cautious approach with his soon-to-be senior guard.
“I had to keep him out of the gym,” the coach said. “He kept asking me if he could play. I told him ‘you can’t.’ I had to make sure he was cleared first.
“Of course, he was going to play on his own, anyway.”
Determined to get back in shape, Diaz joined a traveling team. Within time, his speed and agility improved, and so did his defense.
“It felt good,” he said. “I was just happy because I wasn’t supposed to be playing.”
Receiving clearance to compete for the school brought its share of hurdles.
“We had committees. We had doctors. We had to do our research,” Castellano said.
The team’s trainer received a copy of Diaz’s medical history. Opposing trainers from across the Valley were informed, too, on how to handle any situations that might arise with him playing. As part of their agreement to clear him, Diaz’s mother, who is now trained in CPR, must attend all games.
If she doesn’t — as was the case earlier this season when she attended a graduation — Diaz must sit out.
It’s one in a series of compromises Diaz has had to make to play a critical role for the Eagles (12-12, 2-3), who find themselves in a three-way tie for third place in District 30-6A and very much in contention to snap a playoff drought dating back to 2009.
“Just playing basketball, being here with my teammate, it’s great,” Diaz said. “I wasn’t supposed to play basketball ever again in my life. So I’m just grateful to be playing now.”
Every game, Diaz wears a carbon-fiber Evoshield guard to protect his chest and the ICD there. It puts Castellano at ease a bit, after having been reluctant to play him immediately.
Now, Diaz’s contribution is playing dividends. He’s averaging six points, three assists and two steals per game, giving the Eagles a third, ball-handling guard to add to the mix.
“He always had a good attitude,” Henderson said, “but now, after going through that, he knows how fragile life is and how quickly it can be taken from you. He doesn’t take anything for granted.
“It puts things into perspective for all the guys to make sure they play their hardest because they don’t know when it could be their last game. Sometimes, us as a coaching staff, it’s hard to believe that (after seeing) what we saw that day that he’s still playing with us. It’s a blessing to have him here.”