5-hour brain surgery saves La Crescenta teen's football career

LA CRESCENTA, Calif. (KABC) -- Crescenta Valley High School hasn't hung a CIF championship banner in the last 41 years. But that's not the most remarkable story.

One year ago, 16-year-old Bostin Lakin thought he might never play football again for his school.

As his sophomore season ended, his season of change had begun when he unexpectedly suffered a seizure after a game.

"To see that in person, [that was the hardest thing] that ever happened to me," said Lenny Lakin, Bostin's father.

Bostin said he recalls going on the bus and playing the game, but then the next thing he remembers is waking up confused and in the hospital.

An MRI at the Children's Hospital revealed what was going on in Bostin's brain. His mother Traci Lakin said her son had cavernoma, which is an abnormal cluster of blood vessels in the brain. The cavernoma in Bostin's head had begun to bleed, causing seizures.

Lenny Lakin said doctors were confident they could remove the cavernoma. Bostin then decided to undergo a five hour surgery, which would be on his father's 50th birthday.

"I told him, I said, 'You're going to give me the best birthday present ever.' It was tough," his father said.

Doctors removed a silver dollar sized portion from Bostin's skull and then removed the berry-sized cavernoma. The Lakin family wouldn't know if worked for six months, and until then Bostin stayed on anti-seizure medication. Thankfully, the surgery worked.

Fast forward one year later and Bostin is now a wide receiver for his team. He will try to help Crescenta Valley go undefeated and win its first CIF championship since 1973.

Now every Friday, the Lakin family doesn't need to look at a scoreboard to know who won.

"I appreciate just going out there every Friday and just playing so much because I truly thought I could never do that again," he said. "I appreciate every minute of it, every second of the game."