Heart defect felled cross-country runner, who will have surgery

Gage Banks, the 13-year-old cross-country runner who collapsed last week, will have heart surgery to correct a congenital defect, a statement from his family said Sunday.

Banks, an eighth-grader at the meet for the Blue Valley School District, had collapsed during the last race of the Sept. 23 event. He was taken Children’s Mercy Hospital by Johnson County Med-Act.

The boy had gone into cardiac arrest, according to a statement his family issued through Children’s Mercy. Tests at the hospital found a heart defect that Gage has had since birth.

He is expected to return home next week to recover and get ready for surgery next month, the family said.

“We feel like this incident was a blessing in disguise and that God has given Gage a second chance at life,” the family said. “We want to thank the community for praying for Gage. The outpouring of support has been overwhelming and phenomenal. People all over the world have been praying for Gage.”

The family also thanked the first responders at the event and the staff at Children’s Mercy.

This story was originally published September 28, 2014 at 12:32 PM with the headline "Heart defect felled cross-country runner, who will have surgery."