Rio High Athlete’s Condition Downgraded

OXNARD — Doctors have downgraded the condition of Rio Mesa High School basketball player Dante Nunnery, 15, from stable but critical to critical, a hospital spokeswoman said Sunday night.

The Oxnard teenager collapsed during a game Dec. 30 and has been in a coma at Columbia Los Robles Hospital in Thousand Oaks since. Family members said the youth had to be sedated recently to keep his heart from beating too fast.

“He could hear you when you walked into the room, and that made his heart beat fast,” said Nunnery’s 25-year-old brother James of Oxnard. “He’s still in the coma. But he moved his hands a little bit.”

The sophomore athlete was listed in stable but critical condition for much of last week.

James Nunnery said his mother, Lorean, was continuing her bedside vigil Sunday night.