Dike uses his platform to honor friend
Heart condition killed his former teammate at 16
MADISON – Chimere Dike hasn’t forgotten the friend he lost a little more than three years ago.
“His memory and his impact still is with me and he pushes me every day,” Dike said. “I think about him every day.”
The friend to whom Dike referred was Kai Lermer, a classmate and teammate at Waukesha North High School who went into cardiac arrest while playing basketball on March 25, 2019. Lermer, a 16-year-old junior at the time, survived after being rushed to a hospital but was taken off life support several days later. The lack of oxygen had left him with little brain activity.
“I was with him that day,” Dike recalled. “We went to Q’Doba to get lunch.”
Lermer had an undiagnosed heart condition called Wolff-ParkinsonWhite Syndrome. Individuals who have WPW have an extra electrical pathway between the upper and lower chambers of the heart. The result is a rapid heartbeat.
The condition can be diagnosed with an EKG but such tests typically are not included in physical examinations for Wisconsin high school athletes.
Dike, hoping to raise awareness about EKGs and support the Kai Lermer Memorial Fund, is set to host a youth football camp June 25 at Waukesha North High School.
Lermer would have turned 20 on June 16.
“I grew up playing with him in all sports,” said Dike, who was a junior at North in 2019. “It was tough, but our community really came together and we got through it.
“And when his family started the foundation, I knew it was such a good cause that I knew it was something I wanted to be able to give back to. Obviously, I have aspirations of playing pro
ball. And I knew if I was fortunate enough to be able to reach that level, I would do something with my platform.
“But with NIL (Name, Image and Likeness) I realized that maybe my platform could be used now, even if it is on a smaller scale. I said: ‘Why wait to do something? Why wait to get it started?'
“So, I thought about doing the camp, not only to give back to the foundation but also to my community. We've got a lot of really good players coming so I'm excited.”
The camp is open to students entering third through 10th grade. Camp packages are either $50 or $85 and Dike plans to contribute some of the proceeds to the memorial fund.
Several UW players are set to work the camp with Dike. They include safety Hunter Wohler, quarterback Graham Mertz, tailback Braelon Allen, linebackers Nick Herbig and C.J. Goetz and wide receiver Dean Engram.
“It has been great that the guys have been volunteering to come,” Dike said. “That means a lot to me because they are supporting something that is important to me. It speaks to the kind of guys they are.”
In the wake of their son's death, Lermer's parents worked to introduce a bill to raise awareness about sudden cardiac arrest in young athletes.
Gov. Tony Evers signed a bill — Kai-11 — into law March 29.
The bill requires the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association and the Wisconsin Department of Instruction, along with a minimum of two pediatric cardiologists, to work to educate coaches, athletes and their parents about the risk of sudden cardiac arrest.
It also requires that parents and athletes are given information about EKGs, including the benefits and any potential risks, as well as how to request such testing from a health care provider.
The information is to be given to athletes 12 years and older at the beginning of each youth sports season.
“An EKG could have detected his heart condition and that could have saved his life,” Dike said. “That is why the foundation is so impactful because it could save lives. That is why I am so passionate about it.
“It is something that is so simple. When I came here to UW, we do EKG testing. And that was an eye-opener. It almost made me angry because I saw how quick it was and how seamless it is. That fact that it's not required in (high school) health checks is kind of ridiculous to me.
“It is a five-minute process that can help save lives. The more we can raise awareness … it is really important.”