CITRUS COUNTY, Fla. — When I asked Lakesha Harrison to tell me about her son, she immediately lit up.
“Antonio. He loved sports. He played football, basketball, weightlifting, we did soccer,” said Lakesha.
Antonio Hicks, known as an outgoing Citrus High School teen who always had everyone laughing.
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“Just a very loving, happy, big hug person. He was my teddy bear…that was my baby,” said Lakesha.
Antonio sadly died in 2021 because of sudden cardiac arrest.
I asked Lakesha if there was any indication that anything was wrong before he passed.
“None. None. None at all,” she said.
She told me about the day that would forever change her life.
Lakesha had gotten off of work early and was cooking dinner for Antonio when she got a phone call.
“It was his coach, and he’s breathing panting just, and I’m like, ‘What’s wrong, coach? What’s wrong?’ And he’s like ‘I just performed CPR on ‘Tonio.’ And I just took off,” said Lakesha.
She raced to the football field.
“I seen them performing CPR on him, putting him in the back of the ambulance, and I went to the hospital, and I work there. I know they did… everything they could, and…. No,” said Lakesha.
He didn’t make it.
Tampa Bay 28 went to Antonio’s vigil in 2021 and saw how many people loved him.
Lakesha decided back then to turn her pain into purpose, spending the past few years urging parents to screen their kids for heart conditions.
“That’s what keeps me going. Keeps me going,” said Lakesha.
Heart conditions that lead to sudden cardiac arrest typically have no symptoms, and unfortunately, the first symptom is usually death.
Now on a mission to make sure this doesn’t happen to other families, Lakesha is raising awareness with the organization, Who We Play For, to let parents know they’re offering low-cost and free electrocardiograms, or EKGs.
It can spot a life-threatening heart defect that leads to sudden cardiac arrest.
There’s a screening event on Saturday, February 21, on the second floor of the St. Pete College of Nursing for ages 10-25, regardless of fitness level.
The screenings are from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
As of this July, Florida’s Second Chance Act will require all new student-athletes to receive a heart screening before they participate in high school sports.
This legislation is something that made Lakesha emotional when she heard it passed.
“I just started crying. I cried. I cried. It’s beautiful because it’s like what if they had it then for me?” said Lakesha.
She wears Antonio's photo around her neck every day.
While she can’t bring him back, Antonio is still with her.
“His purpose is to live on to continue to help other parents get their children tested and screened for this,” said Lakesha.
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