SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. — South Tahoe High School alumnus Luke Garratt was rushed to the hospital on March 1 where he was diagnosed with a stroke which turned out to be the result of an infection within his body, according to his mother Melinda Garratt. 

“It felt like the Twilight Zone,” Garratt’s mother told the Tribune and said her son was left paralyzed on the left side of his body. The mother of the 26-year old added, “He was pretty healthy, he said he didn’t feel well a couple days before it happened, like he had the flu.” 

The road to recovery has not been easy. After a two week stay in the intensive care unit, Garratt has been transferred to a Rehabilitation Care Center in Los Angeles after a surgery that he wasn’t expected to live through.

“March 10 surgery happened, they had to time it perfectly,” Melinda said, “They had to wait due to bleeding on the brain, plus the infection of the heart.” 

The STHS graduate went under the knife and doctors used bovine valves to reconstruct his heart, according to his mother.

“It’s working, he’s alive, he’s a fighter,” Garratt said.

“A stroke and surgery are life changing events and we want Luke to be allowed to focus on regaining his strength,” said Hayden Garratt, Luke’s cousin who set up a GoFundMe to help raise money for “Luke’s hospital bills and other normal costs of living for the next coming months.”