A high school tennis player who collapsed on a warm-up run in Anaheim last week has died after eight days in the hospital, her parents announced Wednesday
Morgan Wilson is seen at left with a friend in a photo posted on Twitter by @steffymarti.
Morgan Wilson, a 17-year-old student and varsity tennis co-captain at Esperanza High School, died at UC Irvine Medical Center after suffering cardiac arrest on July 8.
She was the subject of a prayer circle organized on the school tennis courts by a former teammate last week. Friends posted about her on Twitter under the hashtag #prayforMorgan.
Friends prayed for Morgan Wilson at Esperanza High’s tennis courts on July 10, 2014. (Credit: KTLA)
“Praying that Morgan gets over this hurdle,” one girl tweeted on Tuesday. “Couldn’t think of anyone who deserves a miracle more. #prayformorgan.”
Scott and Debbie Wilson wrote in a statement sent out by a spokesman for UCI Medical Center that their daughter’s body had “decided it was time to go” on Wednesday afternoon. They called her a “strong and passionate girl who loved life” and was a role model for others.
“We want to thank everyone for their prayers. The outpouring of support from strangers and those who knew and loved Morgan is overwhelming,” the Wilsons wrote.
Morgan Wilson had registered to be an organ donor without her family’s knowledge, her parents said.
“Like so many things in her life, this reminds us what a generous and selfless soul she has,” her parents wrote, saying they were working to donate their daughter’s organs. “Our hope is that they will save other people’s lives.”
Wilson was on a warm-up run before a private tennis lesson in Anaheim when she collapsed, the Orange County Register reported.
Rescue crews were able to get Wilson’s heart started again after using a defibrillator, but Wilson did not regain consciousness, the school’s women’s tennis booster club president said last week. She had no known history of heart problems.
Wilson’s parents said they believed their daughter could have been saved had she gotten CPR “in a timely fashion.” Urging others to learn CPR was the best way to honor Morgan, they wrote.
“Parents should make sure that those entrusted with their children’s care know CPR and are prepared to administer it,” Scott and Debbie Wilson wrote. “Ask whether their schools and athletic facilities have automatic defibrillators on site. Please, do not be afraid to ask.”
Morgan Wilson, who has a 4.2 GPA and is one of the school’s varsity tennis captains, collapsed about 11 a.m. Tuesday, according to Judith Tarbell, the school’s women’s tennis booster club president.
Rescue crews were able to get Wilson’s heart started again after using a defibrillator, however, Wilson has not regained consciousness since the incident, Tarbell stated in an email.
“She is fighting for her life,” Tarbell wrote.
Tarbell’s daughter was standing next to Wilson when the teen collapsed.
Wilson was at UC Irvine Medical Center in critical condition, the
Orange County Register reported, citing a track coach at Esperanza High.
Wilson, 17, was getting ready for a private tennis lesson with a warmup run when she collapsed at an Anaheim park, the newspaper reported.
Wilson’s fellow students gathered Thursday on the tennis courts of the high school to hold a prayer vigil for her.
Friends prayed for Morgan Wilson at Esperanza High’s tennis courts on Thursday. (Credit: KTLA)
Her parents said through Tarbell that they were not ready to speak about their daughter.
Under the hashtag
#prayforMorgan, friends and fellow students voiced their support for Wilson on Twitter.
“Don’t understand how something like this could happen to one of the nicest, most hardworking people I know,” one tweet stated. “Love you, Morgan.”
Wilson always has a positive attitude when faced with a challenge on the tennis court, said Alexa Lanning, a recent Esperanza graduate who played with Wilson.
Morgan Wilson’s supporters hugged at the prayer vigil for her on July 10, 2014. (Credit: KTLA)
“I think that she can pull through this one too,” Lanning said. “She’s a fighter and she’ll do it.”
Lanning organized the “group prayer” for Wilson on the courts Thursday.
“She’s in the hospital and she really needs our prayers more than anything,” Lanning said.
Esperanza, a high-achieving public school with a strong athletic program, serves students from Yorba Linda, Anaheim, and Placentia,
according to the school’s website.
O.C. Tennis Player, 17, ‘Fighting for Life’ After Collapse at Anaheim Park
Morgan Wilson was one of the captains of the Esperanza girls tennis team last season as a junior. Wilson died Wednesday, eight days after collapsing at a tennis lesson at Anaheim Tennis Center. She was 17.
An Esperanza High School student-athlete died Wednesday, eight days after suffering cardiac arrest while warming up at the Anaheim Tennis Center, her parents said in a statement through UC Irvine Medical Center.
Morgan Wilson, 17, was a varsity tennis and track and field athlete who collapsed July 8; she was transported to UCI.
“This afternoon, Morgan's body decided it was time to go,” Wilson’s parents, Scott and Debbie, said in the statement. “We want to thank everyone for their prayers. The outpouring of support from strangers and those who knew and loved Morgan is overwhelming.
“Morgan was a strong and passionate girl who loved life. She was positive and a role model for others. She pushed everyone to reach their goals. Morgan never compromised her morals to be part of the crowd.”
On Monday, doctors and Wilson’s family decided to run tests on her organs to see if they could be donated. She was later taken off of all life support except for oxygen, which was keeping her organs alive, Aztecs sprint coach Gary Moore said in an email.
Wilson would have been a senior this fall at Esperanza. As a junior, she was the captain of the girls tennis team. On the track and field team, she participated in events such as the 100 meters, the hurdles and the long jump.
As of late last week, family members were unsure why Wilson collapsed.
“There's nothing abnormal,” Wilson's father told KCBS. “Nothing that clued us into this growing up. Nothing.”
On Thursday, Esperanza held a prayer meeting for Wilson: Several hundred people showed up at the school’s tennis courts.
http://ktla.com/2014/07/16/high-school-tennis-player-morgan-wilson-17-dies-after-8-days-after-collapse-on-run/
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/wilson-629113-morgan-esperanza.html
