Mann Jr. has overcome life-threatening surgery to live his dream

12:56 AM CST on Monday, February 21, 2005
By C. ANTHONY MOSSER / Special Contributor to The Dallas Morning News

PLANO – Plano reserve forward/center Lawrence Mann Jr. relishes physical play, but battling for position under the basket pales in comparison with the battle that Mann overcame when he was 6 years old.

Back then, Mann was fighting for his life, undergoing heart and lung bypass surgery.

"They said I might not make it," Mann said. "But now, I'm living my dream playing high school basketball."

Mann was born with a small hole in the ventricular valve of his heart, which caused a murmur. Doctors told his parents that the small hole would likely close by the time Mann was 5 or 6 years old.

But it didn't. Instead, Mann remembers awakening one morning short of breath and telling his father, Lawrence Sr., that he thought he needed to go to the hospital.

That memory remains vivid for his father, who now chuckles when recalling that he sent his son to bed with a spanking the night before because he had thrown some loose change in – of all places – the toilet bowl.

The Manns were living in Bedford then. At the hospital, doctors determined that Mann needed immediate surgery, even though the shortness of breath had been caused by an asthma attack.

Lawrence Sr. remembers how he would lay his ear to his son's chest to listen to his heartbeat and the murmur would make it sound like a washing machine.

"They told us he was overworking his heart," Lawrence Sr. said. "Even though he was 6 years old, his heart rate was that of a 30-year-old man."

Mann underwent heart and lung bypass surgery at Cook's Children Medical Center in Fort Worth. While the surgery was deemed a success, the family was told there was still a chance that Mann might not make it. He spent 10 days in intensive care.

"It was a life-changing event," Lawrence Sr. said. "There were kids all around him in the hospital that were dying, and we had gotten to know their parents. That's when reality really hit. Every time I look at Lawrence, I thank God he preserved him."

Lawrence Sr. also made a vow at the time to work in youth fitness. He now runs the Top Achievers Foundation, a nonprofit health club of sorts for kids of all ages, and has coached his son and many other area players in youth AAU leagues.

Mann still suffers from seasonal asthma, a condition that caused him to miss a few games earlier this season. But his early health problems haven't prevented him from being involved in athletics. He played soccer, football and basketball growing up and decided to concentrate on basketball by his freshman year.

A seven-inch incision stretches up from the middle of his stomach from the surgery. His father refers to it as his "battle scar," and battle is what the 6-4 Mann does best on the basketball court. The first substitute off the bench at forward or center, Mann's physical nature helps him hold his own against taller players inside.

"He works real hard and is not the kind of kid who is going to back down from a challenge," Plano coach Tom Inman said.

Class 5A bi-district playoffs: Plano vs. Arlington Bowie, 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Southlake Carroll