Upon Alex Manske’s arrival at Penn State as a transfer quarterback from Iowa State, he was quickly forced to face unforeseen adversity regarding his health.

After one of Manske’s offseason workouts in the Lasch Building, Director of Sports Medicine Joe Resendez revealed to the redshirt freshman that his required electrocardiogram showed some potentially life-threatening results.

Manske was diagnosed with a dilated aortic root and dilated ascending aorta, two conditions that would increase the likelihood for an aneurysm or rupture in his heart, Sean Fitz of BlueWhite Illustrated detailed on Tuesday.

The news surprised Manske, who had no prior knowledge of any preexisting conditions of that sort.

“I never would have known,” Manske told reporters. “I had zero symptoms before then. And I never felt like I’d get out of breath easy or anything like that. So it was definitely a surprise when I found it, and I’m glad that I found it.”

Resendez served under the same title on Matt Campbell’s staff with the Cyclones, but the heart scan was not a mandated part of the program back in Ames, Iowa.

Regardless, the former athletic trainer with the Sacramento Kings and in the XFL/UFL had a course of action in mind.

Despite receiving comforting news from doctors, Manske feared that his football career would be in jeopardy, something that would be devastating to the former four-star recruit out of Algona, Iowa.

“When you’re sitting alone at night, you can start thinking about it a little bit,” Manske said. “There was definitely a couple of nights where I thought, ‘Oh shoot, I don’t know what’s going to happen.’ But I think they did a really good job of making me feel reassured.”

Manske was sent to Rochester, Minnesota, to Mayo Clinic for additional testing in the spring. On Monday, March 16, he underwent open-heart surgery, where medical professionals inserted a plastic graft into his aorta in place of the large section.

Despite leaving the hospital four days before the start of Penn State’s spring ball, he was sidelined for the duration of the practice period.

“On that day I had a lot of people texting me, a lot of the staff, a lot of the players telling me [they were] praying for you and stuff. So I think that really helped me put my mind at ease a little bit. My parents were there every step of the way, really helping me,” Manske said.

Following his release from the hospital, Manske completed cardiac rehab in his home state of Iowa. He returned to State College a month post-surgery, and began throwing again in June after a follow-up at Mayo Clinic.

“[Mayo Clinic] said if I had a game in three weeks, they’d probably clear me to play in the game. That’s how good it looks,” Manske said following his summer appointment.

Now a full participant in the team’s fall camp, Manske is all-systems go ahead of the Penn State season opener on September 5. The initial plan was to ease him into practice action, but Manske surprised the coaching staff with his performances, quickly rising to the QB2 spot behind teammate Rocco Becht.

“What that man has done to get back, to play the way he’s playing. He’s playing as good of football in the last two days as we’ve witnessed Alex Manske play his entire career,” Campbell said.

While Manske now has a large scar snaking down his chest, it will perhaps serve as a reminder of his road to recovery, and a lesson to not take anything for granted.

“I’m thankful for Penn State and to be able to do the testing here to find that. Because if I didn’t find that, you never know what could have happened,” Manske said.