Iolan Ryker Curry, 12, is scheduled to undergo heart surgery after complaining of chest pain and eventually collapsing and passing out Wednesday.
Curry, son of Heath and Heather Curry, was taken to Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Mo., where he was diagnosed Friday with a congenital heart defect called anomalous coronary artery disease.
The disease — a defective artery — is potentially fatal for young athletes, although Ryker’s long-term prognosis after surgery is good, his mother said.
The hardest part for the Iola Middle School sixth-grader is the surgery will require a month or longer of down time — read, no sports — afterward.
“Anyone who knows Ryker understands how hard this alone is for him,” Heather Curry wrote in a Facebook update Sunday.
