MENTOR, Ohio — It's only been a week since 14-year-old Lucas McGee died, but his family says it already feels like a lifetime.
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"I just want him to know how much I love him, how proud I always was of him, and I can't wait 'til the day that I see him again," McGee's dad, Dave, told me on Thursday.
McGee is described as a wide range of things, from the world's funniest teenager to a stellar wrestler.
"Lucas was just an amazing kid. He was so smart. He's in all honors classes, gets great grades, and we never had to get on him about anything. He just did it," Dave said.
Dave said it was Sept. 29 when his son collapsed during a wrestling conditioning exercise.
"The doctors have told us that they can't answer what caused it, but it was a sudden cardiac arrest," he said. "The EMTs were on scene within a couple of minutes and CPR was started, from what I understand, immediately by the cross country coach."
McGee's sister, Allyssa, said it's "very likely" the athletic trainer and the other athletics department employee were at the football field at the time of her brother's collapse.
Allyssa used to be a student trainer and held that position all four years of her high school career.
"Where Lucas was, I'm not sure where he collapsed, but he probably would have been far enough away that they would have had no idea until they saw the reports going in," she said.
Dave said the rhythm strips from the defibrillator machine showed McGee was having ventricular fibrillation.
"Which is where the ventricles of the heart, they don't fully contract. They fibrillate or just kind of half squeeze, which means no blood flow is coming out of the heart," Dave said. "He was shocked a total of 20 times with a defibrillator trying to restart his heart over a period of around an hour before his heart was able to start beating again."
Dave said due to his son's heart not beating for 60 minutes, it led to hypoxic brain damage, which means there was a lack of oxygen, and his brain tissue degenerated.
"We were basically told last week that if he were to fully recover lung and heart function, he would most likely be deaf, blind, and unable to interact with the world in a meaningful way. Lucas wouldn't want to have no quality of life," Dave said. "It would be selfish for us to keep him here and not let him go be with God."
On Oct. 9, McGee's parents made the toughest decision they've ever made and took him off his ventilator.
McGee passed away at the hospital surrounded by loved ones.
"One of his friends even, you know, was so upset last week while he was in the hospital. 'If I could call Lucas right now, he'd know exactly how to do this.' That kind of breaks your heart because you know he was somebody his friends looked up to and he was helping people. That's another big thing about Lucas, he absolutely loved everyone and would help anyone," Dave said.
Dave wants to know what caused his young son to have sudden cardiac arrest, especially since his son has no history of medical complications.
"Because he was, last year, 6'3 and about 140 pounds at his physical, his pediatrician actually had us do a check off with cardiology. There's a condition called Marfan's syndrome that she was worried about, so the cardiologist went through the criteria for Marfan's, did an echocardiogram, and an EKG. They did all the things and basically said, 'Hey, he's clear. He's good. There's nothing there,'" Dave told me. "For this to happen the following year and them being unable to answer why is frustrating."
Dave's biggest concern now is finding out whether what happened to McGee could happen to someone else in his family, but so far, no clear answers.
"The last ditch effort was doing an autopsy on the heart and lungs. We haven't gotten any information back from that yet," he said.
Moving forward, Dave said he wants to continue McGee's legacy of kindness and helping others. He also wants to make a change in the Mentor school community in hopes that McGee's tragic death is potentially the last.
"If there's a way we can sponsor and crowd fund in the community to make sure there's CPR classes for interested students, you know, let's figure out a way to do it," he said.
Since McGee's passing, Dave said the community has been nothing short of supportive and loving.
A GoFundMe was created on behalf of his family last week and has already surpassed $42,000.
"That was honestly amazing, you know, not having to worry about the hotel stays and what we're gonna do as far as funeral and burial costs and all of that. It's been overwhelming to know that there was enough love out there and and compassion for the situation that it's not going to bury us because nobody should have to go into crushing debt to deal with a tragedy like this," Dave said. "I cannot be more thankful."
Allyssa said the support is a true testament to how much of an impact her brother had on others.
"They wouldn't care so much if Lucas hadn't meant something. It could have just been that he was around and they watched him grow up or he was actually active in their life and meant something to them," Allyssa told me.
At the Mentor High School, green ribbons can be seen worn around campus and "LLL" can be found on social media pages. Both are to commemorate McGee, as green was his favorite color and "LLL" stands for "Long Live Lucas."
While only 14 years old, McGee's family said he's made an everlasting impact and they'll cherish the memories they have with him forever.
In honor of McGee, his family got tattoos at Cardinal Ink at Great Lakes Mall of his name written in cursive, along with a giraffe, as it was his "spirit animal."
"He said he had an affinity with the giraffes. He was a giraffe because he was tall and he had freckles. Those were his spots, long neck and legs," Dave said.
The tattoos are still healing.
Speaking of long neck and legs, his family said he definitely used his height and flexibility to his advantage as he was starting to grow into his high school wrestling career.
"One of the dads called him 'Gumby,' because he was tall and flexible. His first year at Shore wrestling, he only won two matches, but his second year, he only lost like eight and it was nuts," Dave said. "He went to the Ohio Way State Championship, and he did well there. He didn't, you know, end up a state finisher, but for a second year wrestler to go to a state tournament like that, just a huge accomplishment, and I couldn't have been prouder of him."
Dave said McGee would always wrestle with no worries, no fear, and no questions.
Watching McGee wrestle is one of Dave's fondest memories of him.
"Lucas meant everything. Family is everything at the end of the day, you know, all you have is family and Lucas was an integral part of our family. He was the little baby. He made everything complete. He made everything whole. Yes, very much, and I mean, I know with time that changes, but I can't imagine it ever being right without him," Dave said.
Allyssa said one of her favorite memories with her brother was whispering at the dinner table about jelly beans for the sole purpose of annoying their mom.
"We would whisper at the dining table because we knew it would drive our mom crazy. We'd whisper back and forth about the green jelly beans that are mint flavored. We knew jelly beans are her favorite candy. She'd perk up but she couldn't really hear it because we're whispering," Allysa said.
McGee's mom, Kristy, told me she misses her son immensely.
"Everything we do is different without him being here with us and I hope to be able to do all the things that he loved and not feel guilty one day," Kristy said.
On Wednesday, at the Happy Moose in Mentor, there will be a fundraiser on behalf of the McGee family from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.
T-shirts and hoodies representing McGee will be handed out. There will also be a 50/50 raffle, and items will be raffled as well, including gifts from a Cleveland Browns player.
