Sox fan, 5, who received new heart dies
Ari had some 20 surgeries
A lovable 5-year-old boy whose reaction to news he’d get a needed heart transplant became an internet sensation died late Friday, his family said on Facebook.
Ari Schultz “passed away peacefully this evening listening to the Red Sox,” the family wrote.
Ari, who was born with a heart syndrome that was discovered when his mother was pregnant with him, had two heart surgeries before he was born. He underwent about 20 surgeries during his short life and waited more than 200 days to receive a heart transplant at Boston Children’s Hospital.
In March, Ari’s parents posted a video online of the moment they told him he was getting a new heart after months of waiting for a match. The video quickly went viral and racked up more than 1.5 million views on Facebook and more than 450,000 views on YouTube.
On their family blog in March, Ari’s parents wrote that their little boy’s new heart was beating in his chest but he had rejection issues after the surgery.
Ari returned home from Children’s Hospital in mid-June, according to his family’s blog, and was visited by Red Sox catcher Christian Vazquez and shortstop Xander Bogaerts, who invited him to throw out the first pitch at Fenway on Aug. 27.
A video shows both players hug Ari and give him a Red Sox jersey, a catcher’s mask and a glove.
In a post late last week, Ari’s father said the little boy had a seizure early Thursday and was taken back to the hospital, where he was placed on life support in the cardiac intensive care unit.
“Path forward unknown,” the family wrote on Facebook.
His parents said Ari was a rabid sports fan who loved the Red Sox, was “mesmerized” by the world of Harry Potter, adored his sister, Lexi, and brother, Eli, and was “an all-around good kid.”
Ari’s family raised money in his name to help families traveling to Children’s Hospital seeking treatment for their kids and for Team IMPACT, a group that “drafts” children facing life-threatening and chronic illnesses onto college sports teams.