Stephen Ketcham left Colorado Springs this summer for a new life in North Carolina.

Now the 16-year-old just wants to live.

What started as stomach pains for Stephen as his family left for Asheville, N.C., became a virus-ravaged heart incapable of functioning on its own.

The former Cheyenne Mountain High School varsity basketball player is living on machines and waiting for a transplant.

Friends in Colorado Springs are praying and raising money for the family.

“So basically, we’re praying for someone (else) to die,” said Paula Arnold, a friend of the Ketchams.

It’s the latest blow to a family that left Colorado Springs after a failed business venture.

Friends said the family moved to the Springs from Pennsylvania two years ago. Stephen’s father, Craig, left a manufacturing business to open a coin laundry.

The 6-foot-5-inch teen immediately sought out the basketball team and began his freshman year as a varsity player. He overcame an ankle injury to make the starting lineup his sophomore year.

Cheyenne Mountain basketball coach Joe Hites, who came to the school the same year as Stephen, said the teen’s leadership contributed as much to the team’s success as his performance on the court.

Nick Blatz, a Cheyenne Mountain senior and basketball player, said Stephen once brought a photo of the team’s fans to an out-of-town tournament. He boosted players’ morale, and they won the game, Blatz said.

After the war in Iraq, business at the laundry took a turn for the worse. Fort Carson troops, a large number of customers, were deployed.

The family moved July 30. Craig Ketcham got a job opening a plant in Asheville. On the road, Stephen complained that he felt bad.

“We all thought the worst thing we were going to hear was that his family was moving to North Carolina,” Hites said. “He was just a kid you wanted representing your program.”

The family arrived in Asheville on Aug. 1. Stephen could not eat or drink without vomiting. He went to the emergency room at Mission St. Joseph’s Hospital in Asheville. His heartbeat was fast and irregular. A cardiologist was called in during the night.

Stephen and his mother, Suzy, were put on a plane Aug. 2 for Duke University Hospital, in Durham, N.C. Craig Ketcham and Stephen’s younger brother, Nate, later joined them.

His heart stopped Aug. 3. Stephen was revived and put on a heart pump similar to those used in open-heart surgery.

Doctors removed machines Aug. 6 in hopes Stephen’s heart would take over. It didn’t. Friends in Colorado learned of his condition.

He underwent surgery Aug. 7 to attach two ventricular pumps to his heart. Blood thinners led to internal bleeding a few days later.

Doctors tried to get Stephen’s heart working on its own a month later. It worked, but briefly. One pump was replaced, and Stephen was listed as a top priority on the nation’s transplant list.

Doctors have not determined how he contracted the virus, only that it attacked his heart.

“It’s just so mind-boggling to everybody that there’s this big, strong, healthy kid, and (he’s) going through all this,” Arnold said. She and her son were visiting colleges back east when they heard the news, and adjusted their itinerary to visit the family.

Hites called Duke University head basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski, who recently visited Stephen. J.J. Reddick, an All-American guard for Duke, also visited.

“People take way too many things for granted, and this puts things in perspective,” Hites said. “You don’t know in a heartbeat, literally in a heartbeat, it can be taken from us.”

Some families plan to sell T-shirts and other merchandise at Cheyenne Mountain’s sporting events to benefit the Ketchams. Hites will hold a basketball camp and collect donations next month. The family is medically insured but is accruing other costs, including frequent travel and hotel stays.

A parents nightmare. I will hope for the best for them :\'(

I will be praying for him and his family.  :\'(

Well I know that Steve has recived a heart transplant and is doing very well I also know that hey had his first meal in about 8 weeks. :)

Well I know that Steve has recived a heart transplant and is doing very well I also know that hey had his first meal in about 8 weeks. :)
Thanks SO very much....that is GREAT news! Care to give me a link to a source so I can spread the news to my local paper?

I am glad too. John Stewart, a prep star out of Lawrence North and a UK recruit, died playing in the regionals of our basketball tournament, and I would've hate to see Steve or any other human's dying. Stewart died playing the game that he loved. Others wouldn't have been so lucky.  :\'(

Thanks SO very much....that is GREAT news! Care to give me a link to a source so I can spread the news to my local paper?

I am glad too. John Stewart, a prep star out of Lawrence North and a UK recruit, died playing in the regionals of our basketball tournament, and I would've hate to see Steve or any other human's dying. Stewart died playing the game that he loved. Others wouldn't have been so lucky.  :\'(

That's terrible, Indy...what was the cause of his death :\'(

He had an enlarged heart with irregular heartbeat. Possibly Marfan's syndrome. :(
He died in March of 1999.


That's terrible, Indy...what was the cause of his death :\'(

He had an enlarged heart with irregular heartbeat. Possibly Marfan's syndrome. :(
He died in March of 1999.


I'm sorry :\'(

If you go to the Cheyenne Mountain basketball site they always have updates i get the updates from Coach Hites himself he teaches Health and i am a part of the B-ball team but the site is the best place. do any of you go to Cheyenne? I have also heard that Steve had a 25 minute workout!!! he is doing great!!! ;D

GO Broncos!!!

If you go to the Cheyenne Mountain basketball site they always have updates i get the updates from Coach Hites himself he teaches Health and i am a part of the B-ball team but the site is the best place. do any of you go to Cheyenne? I have also heard that Steve had a 25 minute workout!!! he is doing great!!! ;D
I WENT to Cheyenne! Are you here in the Springs? That is GREAT news that Steve is doing that ;)

GO Broncos!!!

;)

;) Steve got released from Duke today!!! he is back home and i live in the springs.      ps i am going to the Bronco game sunday

that above was me i wrote that not rock and roll lol