Injured teen baseball player’s heart stops as grandma rushes to hospital, family says
An accident at baseball practice turned deadly for a Georgia high school athlete, medical officials said.
Jeremy Medina, a 17-year-old student at Gainesville High School, was fatally injured during batting practice in November, his uncle Frank Medina said at a Dec. 6 news conference.
He was officially announced brain-dead Sunday, Dec. 3, according to Michael Cormican, one of the doctors who was part of the teenager’s medical team.
As a way to honor the teenager’s life, relatives planned an honor walk, according to his family’s Facebook page, “pray4jeremy.”
The family said in a Facebook post they arranged for his grandmother to get an international visa to be a part of the honor walk. But about an hour before the boy’s grandmother arrived, Jeremy Medina’s heart stopped.
“We know Jeremy was and will always be in God’s hands and we will see him soon,” the family wrote.
When Jeremy Medina first arrived to Northeast Georgia Medical Center, Cormican said, he had a “devastating head injury.”
The initial blow to his head was “significant” enough to cause the teenager to lose consciousness, he said.
Over the next few days, Cormican said Medina’s condition “progressed to death by neurological criteria or brain death.”
“I’ve got a teenage son myself and I honestly I can’t imagine the pain that this family has to deal with,” Cormican said.
Jeremy’s father, David Medina, described it as “rough times, hard times, painful times” for his grieving family.
But as “a family of faith,” David Medina said, they continue to persevere through the difficult news.
He also thanked the community’s support, saying his family received messages not only from around Georgia, but from around the world.
As a way to honor Jeremy’s wish, Frank Medina said the boy would be an organ and tissue donor — something the teen had a conversation about with his father when he got his driver’s license.
His family saw it as a way their son could give “the gift of life” for someone in need, Frank Medina said.
Counselors and social workers were also made available for anyone at Gainesville High School for “as long as need be,” principal Jamie Green said at the news conference.
Medina’s teammates, coaches and teachers were also updated privately on the teenager’s condition, Green said.
The family will provide further updates about Jeremy Medina through their website or “pray4jeremy” page on Facebook.
Gainesville is about 55 miles northeast of downtown Atlanta.
