A comatose 16-year-old Bucyrus, Ohio, teen died Wednesday morning of injuries suffered in a Feb. 27 pickup basketball game.
Noah Lear was playing basketball with his friends in February when he dunked the ball, bringing the backboard, post and rim down on top of him, according to WJW.
"He just said that he had an accident and his mouth was bleeding really bad and he knocked a few teeth out," his mother, Melissa Griffin told the Galion Inquirer. "He said the police were with him and he was being taken to the hospital."
Lear was taken to Bucyrus Community Hospital in Bucyrus, Ohio, where he went into cardiac arrest twice.
He was then flown to Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio.
"At some point, an emergency (tracheostomy) was done to help get oxygen to his brain," Griffin said. "He had thrown up and aspirated that into his lungs."
The oxygen loss to his brain led to damage in the area that controls his heart and blood pressure.
He was moved to a hospice care facility to better manage his needs.
But on Wednesday morning, a Facebook page created in dedication on Noah announced that he died.
"After fighting valiantly for 18 days, Noah has taken his last breath," the page said. "He is no longer in pain."
A GoFundMe page was created by a family friend to help with the family's costs since Lear's injury. It has surpassed its $5,000 goal.
[h/t Rare]
