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Dear Fellow Dallas Area Baseball Coaches and Teams,

Our baseball team (Texas Hurricanes 14U) was down in Lake Jackson, TX this past weekend (about 50 miles south of Houston) for a tournament. After our Saturday pool games, the coaches and some of the players and parents went to a gulf beach to relax and let the boys have some fun in the surf.

One of our players, Cody Kessler, had a seizure while in the water. A gentleman (not with our party) saw him drop down in the water and by the grace of God noticed that something was wrong. He acted quickly and pulled him to shore. If not for this person, Cody may have gone unnoticed for who knows how long. Cody was not breathing, so our coach Willie Lopez and the this gentleman performed CPR on him for about 3-4 minutes until he began to breathe on his own. Paramedics were on the scene within 10 minutes and took over. Cody was CareFlited to Hermann Hospital in Houston. His father was back at the motel catching up on some sleep (he drove all night Friday night from Dallas with Cody to get him to the Saturday morning games) and then drove to Houston when he was notified. Cody's mother flew from Dallas to Houston when she was notified Saturday afternoon.

Cody was sedated in the helicopter ride on the way to the hospital and was kept sedated and unconscious purposely while being evaluated. So he was completely unconscious from when the incident happened Saturday about 3 PM until he gradually came back to responsiveness about 5 AM on Sunday morning. By Sunday evening he was alert, somewhat groggy, but was/is on his way to recovery with no apparent serious injury. If all went well by Monday afternoon, the plan was to have him released to his parents to drive back to Dallas.

Cody is a freshman at Mesquite Poteet and is on the JV and Varsity baseball team(s) there. He has had a couple of these seizures in the past 6 months but NOT anywhere near to the extent of this last one). He has been taken to specialists and the medical bills were/are becoming a serious burden even without this most recent round of expenses that will easily reach into the tens of thousands of $$.

Cody Kessler's parents, Keith and Tonyua, operate the Ole Whiskers Catfish Restaurant at 430 E. I-30 in Garland (south west corner of I-30 and Roan Road). They have toy drives during the holidays every year, and they have big hearts when it comes to helping who and when they can.

What we Hurricane coaches are asking is that it would be EXTREMELY helpful financially (and would also show this family some "moral" support) to have your team come out one evening (or multiple times) to have a team meal at the restaurant. No hand-outs, they just need as much business at the restaurant as they can get to build up some funds to pay for Cody's medical expenses. They have not asked us to do this - they are not aware that we are asking you to help out.

Hopefully, you will enjoy a quality meal there and you will come back again (and again). This family's medical bills are not going away any time soon, and they need people to support their restaurant (not hand-outs). (If you have any interest in donating cash to help them, that would certainly not be refused but we are sure that they would prefer to earn your support.)

The best way to handle a team meal would be to please call ahead and let them know how many are coming so they can be prepared. If multiple teams all show up at the same time unexpectedly, they may be over-whelmed. The restaurant phone number is 972-226-1701. They are closed on Mondays.

Thanks in advance for your support. As youth baseball coaches in North Texas, we all invest much time and energy to work with these many fine young men. We guide them, instruct them, correct them when necessary, and watch as they develop into players we can be proud of. Many of the players know each other from school or from head-to-head competition over the years. Hopefully we can ALL show support for "one of ours" even if Cody is not playing on your particular team.

Regards,

Texas Hurricanes Coaches John Wesson, Willie Lopez, Rick Lebo and Eric West
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Glad to hear he is doing fine. Hearing something like this happen to such a young man at such a young age is devastating. As parents of a sophomore who played for John and the Hurricanes, this really hits home for our family. As we too are still recovering from a home fire almost a year ago we are grateful for what we have. We will make every effort to go to the restaurant and support this cause and will help by reaching out to the community for their support as well. If there is anything the family might need John, please don't hesitate to ask.

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