Injured Fortuna football player out of coma

Bailey Foley, the Fortuna High School senior injured during a football game at Cardinal Newman High School Aug. 25, was taken out of his medically induced coma Tuesday and is no longer fighting pneumonia.

Foley, 17, is moving parts of his body, including opening his right eye, but cannot follow commands, according to his mother, Tara Johnson of Fortuna.

“His brain is still pretty swollen,” she said, and the swelling has increased in recent days but it is unclear why.

Immediately following his admission to the hospital, a portion of Foley’s skull was removed to help relieve swelling and a tube was inserted to drain fluids.

An initial attempt Aug. 27 to bring him out of a medically induced coma was thwarted when Foley developed pneumonia and had trouble coughing.

He now has a feeding tube, and a tracheotomy tube to help him breathe. He is still fighting a fever, and doctors are running tests to determine the source of the infection, Johnson said.

“The stroke is from the brain injury,” she said. “We still don’t know what happened as far as him taking a hit. He’s never had a history of seizures.”

Foley played running back and linebacker for the Huskies as well as second base on the Fortuna High baseball team. Johnson, who has taken a leave from her job in the returns department of C.Crane radios in Fortuna, said the community support has buoyed the family. Cardinal Newman has organized a gift card drive, students at Roseland Middle School sent a batch of cards which now decorate Foley’s room and a GoFundMe campaign had surpassed $34,300 Tuesday.

“We’ve gotten home-cooked meals,” she said. “It’s great support everywhere.”