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St. Johns County teen heart transplant patient is back in the game

Ponte Vedra teen Hunter Crain has had a lot of “second chances” in his 19 years.

Just ask his mother.

“Well, so I guess there’s second, third, fourth, ninth. Yes, so I guess he’s got nine cat lives,” said Nancy Crain.

Let’s start at the beginning, when Hunter was just 5 days old.

“I saw that he was blue from the chest down,” said Nancy Crain.

Hunter’s mom rushed him to Wolfson Children’s Hospital.

“He had six heart defects and he was in cardiogenic shock,” she said.

Hunter had his first surgery at 15 days old.

“At about nine hours, they came out and said that he wasn’t going to make it and for us to make plans,” said Nancy Crain.

But Hunter is a fighter. He survived that surgery and two more surgeries by the time he was a toddler.

Everything seemed normal for Hunter until high school.

“We were at a Tim Tebow golf tournament and he could not walk two holes,” said his mother.

Back to Wolfson he went, where doctors told him he needed to be on a waiting list for a heart transplant.

“Not being able to play sports and go to high school and do, like, the normal stuff was probably the toughest part for me,” said Hunter Crain.

For two and a half years he waited, passing the time watching football and movies.

On June 7, he got the call; he had a donor.

“It’s just really, like, relief that it’s finally over,” he said.

One heart, two lives.

After the surgery, he realized he was back in the game at EverBank Field when he was able walk all the stairs to his seat without stopping for a break.

Now he wants to get a job with the Jacksonville Jaguars and someday be an NFL coach.

“Since I was never able to play, that’s the next best thing for me,” he said.

Hunter Crain may never know whose heart is beating in his chest, but he knows he’s not going to spend this second chance at life sitting on the sidelines.

His family faces a staggering pile of medical bills, but you can help.

The Third Annual COTA Heart for Hunter Golf Classic will be Feb. 20 at the Atlantic Beach Country Club. To participate or offer your support, you can call Bill Rodish at 904-400-2490 or visit cotaforhunterc.com.