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Taylor Hooton was a month
past his 17th birthday when he buckled two belts together, fastened
one end to his bedroom door, wrapped the other round his neck and
hanged himself. An autopsy after Hooton's suicide on July 15 revealed
the presence of the steroids 19- norandrosterone and
19-noretiocholanolone in his system.
Hooton, an aspiring baseball
pitcher described as a popular and ebullient student at the Texas
college of Plano West north of Dallas, had taken steroids to build
himself up and compete more effectively in his senior year, The drugs
worked. In three months Hooton put on 12 kgs. But he also experienced
the sudden mood switches consistent with steroid abuse, alternating
euphoric highs, violent aggression and ultimately the severe
depression which led to him taking his life.
His father Don, who with his
mother Gwen has devoted himself to campaigning against steroids in
schools and who has set up his own Web site (www.taylorhooton.org),
says steroid use among teenagers is tied up with the American dream.
"They're doing it to
succeed because they think it might help them to set up a
scholarship, " he said. "Taylor was a top-notch student.
He, like so many, was doing it because it might make him better."
The tragic tale underscores
the forbidding obstacles facing the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)
in its never-ending fight for drug-free sport only eight months out
from the Beijing Olympics.
May I wish everyone a Happy
New Year in whichever timezone they reside in and hope that you
continue to prove in 2008 that you don't need drugs to build muscle.
Harry Hayfield December 31st 2007. |
