Suburban Chicago is mourning the loss of a high school freshman who died Sunday after suffering a stroke during swim practice earlier this month.
James Oliver, a 14-year-old student at Geneva High School, collapsed at West Chicago High School on Dec. 8, and suffered an AVM stroke and brain hemorrhage, school officials told parents in a letter.
He died on Sunday night after weeks in hospital.
The sudden death of the teenager has left the community stunned.
“She just brings me so much joy, as she does so many other people,” swimming coach Jennifer Heyer-Olson told ABC7 Chicago.
James Oliver, 14, died on Sunday after suffering a stroke during swimming practice earlier this month. GoFundMe
“And I think when someone dies, you just wish more that you could tell them that.”
Family friends told the outlet that Oliver was born with a brain arteriovenous malformation — or AVM — a condition in which tangled blood vessels in the brain cause connections between arteries and veins, according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.
A neurosurgeon at Northwestern Medicine said that the condition is congenital and very rare.
“It’s thought that most AVMs are present from birth, so we’re seeing a lot of AVMs either diagnosed by chance or diagnosed because they bleed,” said Dr. Matthew Potts told ABC7. “We see a lot of that in children, and teenagers and young adults.”
James Oliver was born with an arteriovenous malformation of the brain, according to a family friend. Sharks for Heyer
“About half of people diagnosed with an AVM experience symptoms, while the other half experience no symptoms until rupture occurs,” Potts added.
The school community was notified of James’ death in an email on Monday.
“As a school community, our thoughts are with his brother, Sean, a junior at GHS, his family and friends, and our hearts mourn this loss,” the email read.
The two brothers are inseparable, according to the outlet.
Sean is also a member of the swim team and trains at the Heyer-Olson home pool, the swim coach said. She became close to the man’s family, and the brothers would help her with chores while her husband battled a serious illness.
“It’s fun to be around, happy, polite, doing good, just doing kid things,” Heyer-Olson said.
“A summer morning at the pool would never be the same without experiencing brotherly love, silliness, and constant whispering (usually about trading cards) between Sean and James,” he told the Kane County Chronicle.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
