An 8th-grade Oklahoman suffered a stroke. Medical professionals are still determining why.
A middle school wrestler from Tuttle is recovering after a stroke in late June as the community rallies to support him and his family.
Luke Champion, 14, had just won a long wrestling match June 22, the final day of wrestling camp at Oklahoma State University, when his mother noticed something was wrong after he left the mat and lay on the bench.
“She’s well-versed in all things related to strokes, because Valorie’s younger son, Logan, had also had a stroke at birth,” said Miranda VanAuken, a close family friend speaking on behalf of the Champions. “He’s doing good nowadays, but that’s made her a very good advocate for her son and learning all of that stuff for his situation.”
Luke was first taken to a Stillwater hospital and then to an OU Health facility, where he underwent surgery to remove a blood clot. A second surgery also was done to relieve pressure to Luke’s brain.
In addition to wrestling, Luke plays basketball and football at Tuttle Middle School, and VanAuken said she’d known him to be healthy. Medical professionals are running various tests to determine if the blood clot could have been caused by genetic factors.
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Friends of the Champion family say the response from the Tuttle community has been tremendous, with various families donating meals and raising funds through T-shirt sales to support the Champions.
At least 30 people showed up at a local church the night of Luke’s stroke to pray on his behalf, and about 50 people attended a follow-up vigil Monday at Tuttle High School.
“So many people are doing anything they can to help them out in any way that they need,” VanAuken said. “But the biggest thing they need is the prayers, and I credit all of Luke’s healing to God via all the prayers that have been poured out for him.”
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When VanAuken visited Luke at the hospital Thursday, the staff was helping Luke with his physical therapy. He sat up, put his socks on his feet, brushed his teeth, and even walked a lap outside of the room.
Luke has since been transferred to a children's hospital in Bethany. Recovery will take time, VanAuken said, but she and the Champion family are heartened Luke is “doing remarkably well” so soon after the surgeries.
“He’s got a sarcastic sense of humor, and I saw that (Thursday),” VanAuken said with a laugh. “Dean, his dad, was teasing him about, when he’s ready to play some video games again, ‘What are you going to play?’ And he said, ‘Nothin’. In this bed? Nothin’.”
'A case that stuck with everyone': An Oklahoma mom's remarkable recovery after a stroke
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Tuttle middle school wrestler beating odds after stroke
