FOX 8 NEWS
by: Jack Shea
VIDEO
MENTOR, Ohio (WJW) – A tenacious young high school athlete is battling for his life, eight days after collapsing during a routine conditioning exercise.
The 14-year-old remains in a coma and on life-support as doctors try to find out what caused his heart to stop beating.
At 6’ 4” and 140 pounds, Mentor High School freshman Lucas McGee is a promising wrestler because of his ability to get out of tough spots and come out on top.
“The cross country coach noticed and immediately started CPR, while other people stood by and dialed 911 and from what I understand, there was a three-minute response time from the Mentor Fire Department,” his father, David McGee, said.
Lucas was initially taken to the Cleveland Clinic in Mentor. His parents arrived as a medical team was attempting to revive the youngest of their three children.
“It was the scariest thing and one of the nurses or medical team members was on top of him doing the compressions,” his mother Kristy McGee.
“I went down on my knees and I grabbed his feet with my hands and they were ice cold and I just started praying that God would intervene and they got his heart started again,” his father added.
Lucas was then flown by Life Flight to the main campus of the Cleveland Clinic.
He was placed on a ventilator to keep him breathing as doctors in the ICU attempted to find out why his heart shut down and come up with a critical care plan to save the 14-year-old.
“You know, as parents, my wife and I were terrified, obviously. This is painful and scary because you just don’t know,” said David McGee.
Lucas had a sore throat in the days leading up to his collapse and after he arrived at the clinic, he tested positive for the Rhinovirus.
“One of the possibilities is what’s called Myocarditis, which is an inflammation of the heart muscle and is in response to a viral infection,” said David McGee.
Compounding the fears of the family, is the uncertainty about how a lack of oxygen when his heart initially stopped has affected Lucas’s brain.
“When I learned all the other things that could be going on with his brain and they said this could be months and months, it was like it was worse than when I was watching them resuscitate him,” Kristy McGee said.
The family is hoping the tenacity that Lucas has shown on the wrestling mat, along with his strong sense of faith, will guide him through the crisis.
“I tell him just how much I love him, how proud I am of him and all I need from him right now is to rest and relax and let the healing happen,” said David McGee.
Fundraisers have been organized to support the family. Learn more here.
