Cholla High School and Arizona Wildcats great Sean Elliott is recovering from an Atrial Fibrillation procedure after his Apple Watch warned him that his heart was beating irregularly, according to an Instagram post from his wife Claudia Zapata-Elliott.
Claudia mentioned on Instagram that Sean is in good spirits and that the Atrial Fibrillation procedure to correct his heart was a success.
“Grateful for the gift of health, an Apple Watch, and the very best healthcare system!” she mentioned in the post. “Sean wasn’t experiencing any symptoms, but for the last couple of weeks, his Apple watch had been warning him he was in Atrial Fibrillation (also known A-Fib, it’s when the heart beats irregularly and chaotically and untreated, can lead to a stroke).
“Enter the amazing cardiology team Methodist Health Care SA who performed several diagnostic tests and imaging and then shocked his heart back into rhythm in a procedure known as cardioversion. One of us was very nervous but knew we were in the best of hands. The other just wanted some chicken! Thank you to our Methodist family, and especially the Trianas, the best father-daughter cardiologists in the business.”
Claudia was referring to San Antonio cardiologists J. Fernando Triana and Taylor Triana.
In a recent interview on the “Eye on the Ball” radio show on 1450-AM, Lute Olson Camp co-founder and organizer Mike Feder mentioned that Elliott was going to be a coach during the camp from Aug. 22-25 for the first time.
It is undetermined if this episode involving Elliott will change that plan.
Elliott, 56, graduated from Cholla in 1985 and then played for Olson’s program at Arizona.
He was selected as a consensus all-American during his junior and senior years, and led the Wildcats to the Final Four in his junior year (1987-88). Elliott broke Lew Alcindor’s (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) career Pac-10 career scoring record. After his senior season, Elliott won the Wooden Award. He is still Arizona’s career scoring leading with 2,555 points.
Shortly after helping the San Antonio Spurs win the 1999 NBA Finals, Elliott announced that he had a kidney disease known as focal segmental glomerulosclerosis and that his kidney function was worsening. He required a transplant. He underwent surgery on Aug. 16, 1999, after he received a kidney from his older brother, Noel.
Cholla’s gym is named after Sean Elliott.
He is widely considered the greatest player in Arizona basketball history.
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