13-year-old San Dimas football player back home after suffering heart attack during game
"It feels great," said Cash Hennessy, who spent more than a month in the hospital. "I'm so happy to be home."
SAN DIMAS, Calif. (KABC) -- After defying the odds stacked against him, a 13-year-old who suffered a heart attack last month during a football game is now back at home.
In a video his family shared with Eyewitness News, medical staff at Children's Hospital of Orange County (CHOC) are seen cheering as Cash Hennessy was released on Tuesday.
"It feels great," Cash told ABC7 during a Zoom interview Thursday. "I'm so happy to be home."
On Sept. 17, a heart attack during a football game in Rancho Cucamonga landed the teenager in the hospital for more than a month.
Cash said he only remembered the night before the medical emergency.
Since then, his community and even some pro-athletes, have rallied around Cash, sending videos to lift up his spirits.
"I still felt kind of loopy from the anesthesia when they showed me them, so I was just more shocked than anything, and now I'm just kind of grateful," Cash said.
And there's a lot to be thankful for.
Doctors told his parents - Brenda and Chad Hennessy - their son was born with a congenital heart condition.
Though he's been through open heart surgery and was placed on a ventilator, he was hospitalized for much less time than expected.
His dad said the cardiologist was in awe.
"Every time he doubted Cash, Cash proved him wrong and his recovery was so fast. He was just amazed," Chad Hennessy said.
"When he started walking, after three days from being on an ECMO machine for close to eight days, there were nurses crying in the hallways," Brenda Hennessy said.
The boy's parents said all the support they've received helped them keep their promise to their son and they didn't leave the hospital until he did.
"We had kind of made a promise to him that we weren't leaving until he did, and for us as parents, that's really what got us through, was all the support and all the prayers and all the well wishes and the messages," Chad Hennessy said.
Cash began getting visits from his friends this week and his parents are finally getting some sleep, but said they were still getting up throughout the night to check on their son.
"Overall, I just feel so much better being home, like, mentally and physically, I just feel great," Cash said.
