14-year-old boy suffers stroke after winning wrestling match

A 14-year-old Oklahoma boy suffered a stroke after winning a wrestling match last week.

Luke Champion, an eighth-grader who also plays football and basketball at Tuttle Middle School, had just won his last match at a wrestling camp at Oklahoma State University when he was stricken, KFOR reported.

“I just commented to his brother that he looked sleepy and then he laid back and I’m like, ‘We’re going have to go wake your brother up because he has to wrestle again,’” his mom Valorie Champion told the outlet.

“I yelled at him to wake up and he opened his eyes and as soon as he did, his face drooped and he started slurring his words,” she said, adding that she yelled for someone to call 911.

Valorie said she knew her son probably suffered a stroke because her other son had one as an infant.

Luke was rushed to Stillwater Medical Center and then transferred to OU Children’s Hospital in Oklahoma City, where he underwent several brain surgeries.

“He immediately went in and had a thrombectomy, which is they go in and basically retrieve the clot,” Valorie told KFOR. “He started experiencing some brain swelling and not just really waking up. They went in and did a craniotomy, which is basically they open up the side of his skull and it allows for his brain to expand.”

On Monday, Luke was taken off the ventilator and now is on the way to recovery.

“Hi guys I’m doing good!” he told the outlet.

The local community held a vigil for the young wrestler.

“We’re gathering tonight just to pray and lift up him and his family hopefully for a smooth recovery,” coach and teacher Kristen Finn said. “We just ask that people join us in praying.”

“Champion on three! One, two, three, Champion!” his teammates yelled.

“Thank you for the prayers! I love you!” Luke said in a video to the outlet.

His mom said doctors are still unsure what caused the blood clot.

Meanwhile, Luke was set to begin physical therapy.

“They keep telling us it’s a marathon, not a sprint,” Valorie said. “Just continue to pray. We feel all the prayers. We feel all the love.”