UPDATE: If you would like to donate to the family, their GoFundMe can be found here.
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MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A Bolton High School student athlete is fighting for his life after his parents say he collapsed in the heat during football practice.
Sixteen-year-old Joshua Henderson has been at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital since Monday morning.
His parents are demanding answers from the school district. They say the soon-to-be-senior was in perfect health. Now he’s on a breathing machine for kidney failure.
Angel Henderson, Joshua’s mother, says she received a call at 10:13 a.m. Monday — a time that’s stuck in her memory.
“By the time I got there, he’s in the back of the ambulance, lethargic, unconscious, no eyes open and barely able to breathe,” she said.
The Henderson family is calling on the school district to act and take accountability after they were left with more questions than answers.
“When I went up to the school to get my son’s phone and his clothes from his football locker, he handed them to me, like you putting somebody out of a house or something,” Eddie Henderson said. “They didn’t say anything. Not half an apology. Not ‘I’m sorry for what happened.’”
Henderson’s mother says even though practice was held in the morning, temperatures were still high.
“Outside in 95-degree weather, they running the boys and running drills and not giving them water until they complete the drill,” his mother said.
WREG weather experts said Monday’s high temperature was 93, and the heat index reached 101 in Memphis.
Willie Steward, an athletic coach with Memphis-Shelby County Schools, says his staff stresses the importance of hydrating and taking breaks throughout the day.
“First thing I learned about being in coaching is that you can’t coach everybody the same. So, it’s the same thing with dealing with the weather. So, every kid don’t react the same to weather,” Steward said.
Experts advise those individuals who are at higher risk to always take precautions.
Doctor Rudy Kink, an emergency physician with Le Bonheur, says they’ve seen at least one patient a day when it comes to heat-related illnesses.
“Structure your day around the heat,” he said. “That’s when you want to do your outdoor activities.”
On Friday evening, MSCS released a statement, saying that while the district cannot disclose specific details on Joshua’s condition, “we remain in close and continuous contact with the family to ensure the student, his family, teammates, and friends receive the best possible support that we can offer.”
Read the full statement from MSCS:
First and foremost, we want to extend our most sincere thoughts and prayers to this young man, his family, friends, and the entire Bolton High School football team and community. This is a difficult time, and our hearts are with all those affected as we continue to remain hopeful for a full and speedy recovery.
While we are not legally able to disclose specific details regarding the extent of the student’s condition, we remain in close and continuous contact with the family to ensure the student, his family, teammates and friends receive the best possible support that we can offer.
We are also taking all reasonable and necessary precautions to ensure the health and safety of our student-athletes and staff during summer practices.
