CLEVELAND — A former Revere High School track star who was saved by his coaches after suffering cardiac arrest in 2016 is facing another life-altering challenge as an adult.
On May 21, Perkins was leaving work at Amazon when he was involved in a motorcycle crash.
While the details of how the crash happened are still coming to light, Perkins finds himself in the hospital yet again.
The crash left him with two broken legs, resulting in a below-the-knee amputation of the left leg.
Caleb Perkins has been through a lot in his life. On March 18, 2016, the then-16-year-old was doing what he did best: finishing a challenging workout on the track field.
Then the unthinkable happened. The former Revere high school track star collapsed near the finish line.
Head coach Lyle Kniep started CPR and other coaches quickly came to his aid, administering the automatized external defibrillator (AED), a move doctors at the time said saved his life.
RELATED: Revere student, Caleb Perkins, stresses importance of heart exams one year after AED saved him
Doctors found scarring at the bottom of his heart and diagnosed him with cardiomyopathy. The then-teen had an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator inserted near his heart.
Friends and family are asking the community, as they did five years ago, to show their support in any way possible for Perkins who recently became engaged.
A gofundme has been created to help Perkins with medical expenses, counseling, home modifications, medical equipment and physical and occupational therapy.
According to the gofundme page, Perkins was scheduled to undergo surgery Monday.
RELATED: Track athlete who was saved grateful to coaches
Download the News 5 Cleveland app now for more stories from us, plus alerts on major news, the latest weather forecast, traffic information and much more. Download now on your Apple device here, and your Android device here.
You can also catch News 5 Cleveland on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, YouTube TV, DIRECTV NOW, Hulu Live and more. We're also on Amazon Alexa devices. Learn more about our streaming options here.
