College Football Player Resuscitated After Cardiac Arrest

Jackson State player Kaseem Vauls was placed on a ventilator after the medical emergency

21-year-old college football player Kaseem Vauls went into cardiac arrest on Wednesday morning, forcing doctors to resuscitate him and place him on a ventilator, according to the player's father.

Vauls, a defensive lineman for Jackson State, was in stable condition, "but still critical," his father, William, told The Clarion-Ledger.

Vauls was taken to the University of Mississippi Medical Center on Tuesday night with stomach pain and suffered the cardiac arrest the next morning.

Doctors placed Vauls on a ventilator and he underwent surgery later that afternoon. 

A cardiologist told The Clarion-Ledger that the player's heart was functioning at only around 10 to 15 percent capacity.

"What the doctors think happened, that when Kaseem's heart was failing, that what was giving him the stomach pains," the player's father said.

"His liver was suffering as fluid built up with toxins in his liver, kidneys, and blood. All those toxins built up in his blood stream and his heart could not operate properly and the machine is being used to clean out the blood and toxins."

Kaseem's father provided another update on Thursday morning, saying that doctors told him his son's condition was "progressing" and that they will slowly lower his medication over time.

"The machine is so his organs can rest and not work so hard," he said.

"Then they will lower down the sedation so he can wake up on his own but that might be until day 4 on the machine."

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