More than 100 people gathered Monday night at Crystal City High School for a prayer vigil to support Makenna Jones, 12, who suffered cardiac arrest on Sunday while playing in a CYC basketball game at St. Joseph Catholic School in Imperial.
Jones, a Crystal City Elementary sixth-grader, was in critical condition Tuesday morning at the Heart Center at St. Louis Children’s Hospital, said Laura High, a hospital spokeswoman.
“She is under sedation and progressing slowly,” High said.
During the basketball game on Sunday, Jones’ heart stopped and she collapsed on the court. Her father, Ken Jones, the athletic director and head girls basketball coach at Crystal City High, immediately started performing CPR on her.
Paramedics used a defibrillator on Jones and then transported her by ambulance to St. Anthony’s Medical Center in south St. Louis County. From there, she was airlifted to Children’s Hospital.
Sean Breeze, the boys basketball coach at Crystal City High, visited with Ken Jones and his family at the hospital on Monday before attending the vigil.
“I think Ken’s doing as well as he can,” Breeze said. “He’s had a tough two days but he’s holding up and they’ve had a ton of support, but anytime you see your kid go through that, it’s tough.
“The one thing he did say is how great the support has been all the way down to Bourbon. It’s pretty fantastic when you think about it. He’s handling it as well as you possibly could right now.”
Makenna’s mother, Lindsay Jones, posted on Facebook that Makenna had tested positive for influenza B in January and it could have caused an infection in her heart. High said she wasn’t aware of the diagnosis, but didn’t rule it out at as a factor.
Breeze said Ken Jones told him Makenna is on a ventilator and had opened her eyes and moved her feet on Monday.
“The frustrating thing is the doctors don’t know what caused it,” Breeze said. “When she lost consciousness during the game, Ken performed CPR on her and that’s been very difficult on him. The paramedics used a defibrillator and got her heart beating again, but for a while she wasn’t getting any oxygen. Had he not been there and not did what he did – he kept anything further from happening.”
As the bleachers filled with people supporting and praying for Makenna and her family, Crystal City High principal Matt Holdinghausen said he’s known Makenna since she was born and he was glad the school could help and support the Joneses. Holdinghausen said he’d spoken with Ken since she collapsed.
“He’s scared, like we all are,” Holdinghausen said.
Makenna’s classmate at Crystal City Elementary, Katie Tipton, was at the vigil with her mother, Chris Tipton, who said her daughter has been asking questions about her friend.
“We are pretty open about things,” Chris said. “She has a lot of questions, so I give her as much information as I think she can handle and let her ask questions about it.
“I hope (the Jones family) know we’re all here for them and praying for them and I hope they feel our support.”
“I just want her to get better,” said Katie, who recently had a sleepover with Makenna.
The vigil was hastily organized by the Fellowship of Christian Athletes at Crystal City High, and social media helped organizers spread the word.
Dala Beekman, FCA sponsor, said she wanted to pull together the community to pray for Makenna.
“We’re such a tightknit community. This stretches through the whole school and church community,” Beekman said.
Pastor Leslie Limbaugh of Selma American Baptist Church led the attendees through a rendition of “Amazing Grace,” and pastors Mark Turnbough (Calvary Christian Center in Festus), Scott Douglas (Impact Church in Festus) and Joshua Noah (Grace Presbyterian Church in Crystal City) spoke and offered prayers. Psalm 23 was read toward the end of the vigil.
Crystal City canceled its boys and girls basketball games Monday night in Bourbon. “It wasn’t the important thing to do tonight,” Breeze said at the vigil. “Right now, Ken and Lindsay would like to get an idea what this is. Right now basketball isn’t important at all.”
The Hornets host Herculaneum in boys and girls basketball games Friday night, and those games will still be played, school officials said Tuesday.