Minnesota High Schooler passes away after cardiac arrest during wisdom tooth surgery

Unforeseen complications lead to teen's untimely death.

A routine operation to remove a 17-year-old's wisdom teeth turned into a tragedy following complications that caused the high school student to suffer cardiac arrest and be placed on a ventilator after several seizures.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - A junior at Eden Prairie High School in Minnesota, Sydney Galleger's devastating death was confirmed by her family in an online statement Monday evening.

The complications arose near the end of her procedure when her blood pressure became extremely high, her pulse dropped and she went into cardiac arrest. Emergency paramedics took Sydney to the University of Minnesota Amplatz Children's Hospital for care, and there she was placed on a ventilator to help her breath.

During her time at the hospital Sydney suffered from several seizures and had to undergo surgery to have a drain implanted into her skull to allow fluid to be drained from her brain. Still, her brain continued swelling and despite a poor prognosis, she continued to hang on.

On Friday doctors told the Gallegers that they could do no more for Sydney.

"As you can imagine, that was the most devastating news we have ever received," said Sydney's mother Diane in a post on the Caring Bridge page, which was used to provide updates about Sydney.

"We want to rewind to Monday where we had our happy, healthy, funny, beautiful 17-year-old daughter. As we look at all the pictures covering her hospital walls, we can't believe this same happy, healthy, funny, still beautiful daughter, sister, granddaughter, niece, cousin, and friend is lying in that hospital bed. We can't comprehend it yet and not sure when we will."

"Our precious Sydney left this physical world [Monday] to live in eternity with God and Jesus forever," the family's posting read. "Her faith was strong, her heart was big, her laughter was infectious and her smile could light up a room."

Sydney chose to be an organ donor on her driver's license. Knowing that Sydney will live on in another provides some comfort to her heartbroken friends and family.

A funeral service will be held on Saturday at 11:11 a.m. at the St. Andrew Lutheran Church in Eden Prairie, Minnesota.

We here at Catholic Online offer our deepest condolences and prayers to the Galleger family during this unimaginable tragedy.

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