Every varsity athlete at Pittsburgh is certified in CPR and the use of a heart defibrillator – just a small part of the Maggie Dixon legacy, and what a beautiful legacy it is.
Chances are those Pitt athletes are heart-healthy, because every player has undergone an echocardiogram and an electrocardiogram – preventative measures implemented since Dixon’s death.
Maggie, the younger sister of Pittsburgh men’s basketball coach Jamie Dixon, died April 6, 2006, a little more than a month before her 29th birthday. The autopsy found she had an enlarged heart and faulty heart valve.
She had just led to the Army women’s basketball team to its first-ever Patriot League title. Two nights after Dixon was carried off the Christl Arena court by her Army players she was in the Garden, sitting behind the Pittsburgh bench with her parents, cheering on her brother in the Big East Conference tournament.
“That was the last night we were all together as a family,” Jamie Dixon said in a choking voice by telephone. “The Garden was always a special place for our family because we’d go to games together. I always think of that when I’m there.”
Dixon and his family will be at the Garden tomorrow for the Maggie Dixon Classic, which is developing rapidly into the most prestigious women’s college basketball tournament in the nation. Rutgers takes on Army at noon followed by Connecticut vs. Penn State.
The games aren’t the big event – the Heart Health Expo is. All fans in attendance can receive a free EKG and blood pressure test. Sudden cardiac arrest is the No. 1 killer of athletic young people in America.
Shortly after Maggie died, the Garden and ESPN reached out to Jamie to ask about forming a tournament. Jamie Dixon said he initially was conflicted. There was so much emotion, and he didn’t know how his family would handle the annual visit down the most painful of roads.
But several months after his sister’s death, a flight attendant recognized Dixon and shared his story. His 11-year-old son, who had never shown any signs of heart trouble, collapsed in the driveway while shooting hoops.
A neighbor, trained in CPR, raced over and saved the boy’s life.
“That’s when I knew we had to do something,” Dixon said. “I just want to make sure we’re doing something to help people.”