A high school football player out of Long Island, New York is currently on life support after reportedly collapsing on the field earlier this week at Newfield High School while doing conditioning drills.
17-year-old Robert Bush was only on the field for around four minutes before bending over and then passing out after suffering a “cardiac event” Monday at about 5:00 PM, according to Newsday who was told this information by his older brother, Steve Bush.
His coaches performed CPR and also shocked him with a defibrillator, and he was then rushed to Stony Brook University Hospital by emergency medical teams, however, Bush ended up going without blood or oxygen to his brain for a minimum of 45 minutes.
“There’s no more brain function,” said his brother Thursday, adding that he’s on life support. “We are dealing with the end right now.”
17-year-old Long Island high school football player Robert Bush on life support after collapsing on field: ‘Dealing with the end’ https://t.co/NXAPka2LWl pic.twitter.com/iWGip8tRLG
— New York Post (@nypost) July 6, 2023
It’s currently not known why exactly Bush collapsed, but his family said that he might have had a hereditary condition that thickens the heart‘s left ventricle walls, according to Newsday.
It stops the heart from pumping or getting enough blood during each heartbeat over time.
His family told Newsday that Bush never showed any signs of a heart condition. (RELATED: Former NFL Star Cedric Killings Dead At 45)
Bush joined the football team in order to improve his health and conditioning, according to his brother.
“He’s a shorter kid, so we always told him, ‘You’re like the Rudy,” said Steve, who referenced the classic 1993 movie about a college walk-on who chased his dream of playing football for Notre Dame.