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Columbia Boy Gets a New Heart After Cardiac Arrest at Whitthorne Middle School

Issue #842

October 21, 2026

In this What’s Up Columbia issue…

☀️ Columbia’s Wednesday Weather - Sunny w/ high of 77, low of 41

❤️ Columbia Boy Gets a New Heart After Cardiac Arrest at Whitthorne Middle School

👉 10/24: Yanahli Park Lantern Hike

🗓 List of Upcoming Events

🎵 This Week’s Live Music

🗓 Know of Some Local Events Not Listed? Send us the Details!

Columbia Boy Gets a New Heart After Cardiac Arrest at Whitthorne Middle School

Logan Lucado went to Whitthorne Middle School on the morning of Sept. 4 expecting a normal school day. Six weeks later, after a cardiac arrest in his classroom, a helicopter flight to Nashville and a heart transplant, the 10-year-old is back home in Columbia.

His mother, Ashley Hailey, reached out to What’s Up Columbia! because she wants the community to know Logan’s story and to thank the people who helped him along the way.

Logan has lived with a heart condition his entire life. He was born Nov. 17, 2015, at Woman’s Hospital in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, after a difficult delivery that ended in an emergency C-section. Hailey said he suffered a heart attack during the birth that left him with dilated cardiomyopathy, a condition that weakens the heart’s ability to pump blood, along with injuries to his head and brain. He has also lived with autism. Doctors gave him 12 hours to live. Next month, he turns 11.

On Sept. 4, a glitch in Whitthorne’s fire alarm system brought the fire department to the school, and students went outside for a fire drill. On the way back in, Hailey said, a classmate saw Logan trip and hit his foot on a locker, and he stopped to fix his shoe.

Back in his IEP class, his teacher noticed him slumped over and at first thought he was still working on his shoe. When he didn’t answer after his name was called three times, staff realized something was wrong.

School nurses reached Logan and began CPR. An officer then found that he had no pulse. Because firefighters were still on campus from the alarm, they were able to step in right away, and Hailey said they got him back within four minutes.

Hailey got the phone call at 8:15 a.m. Logan was taken by ambulance to Maury Regional Medical Center, where he was stabilized, then flown to Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt in Nashville.

His heart stopped twice more after he landed in Nashville, and doctors brought him back both times. He was placed on ECMO, a machine that takes over the work of the heart and lungs, for a couple of days. Around Sept. 8 or 9, doctors performed a heart catheterization and placed an Impella, a small pump that helps the heart move blood.

Recovery came with setbacks. After Logan was taken off his breathing tube, a severe nosebleed meant he had to be put back on it for a couple more days until the bleeding was under control. Once it stopped, he came off the ventilator again and kept improving.

In late September, Logan was added to the heart transplant waiting list. Because he has O-negative blood, doctors needed a specific match. He was on the list for about two and a half days before Hailey got a call on a Saturday evening that a heart had been found. Logan had transplant surgery that Sunday night into Monday.

In an Oct. 1 update in the I Heart Columbia Facebook group, Hailey thanked the donor’s family. “Whoever you are in this world we can not thank you enough to helping my baby have another chance in this world!” she wrote.

On Oct. 16, Hailey shared that Logan had been released from the hospital and the family was able to bring him home.

Hailey credits her faith, and the timing of that morning at school, for her son being alive today.

“If it wasn’t for God, my baby would not have been put at the right place at the right time with the right people,” she said.

She also said the support at home has meant a great deal. “The school has been amazing. Everybody in this community of Columbia, Tennessee has been absolutely wonderful,” Hailey said.

Hailey shares updates on Logan’s recovery on her Facebook page, and in a Facebook group for his journey.

Got an amazing local story to share? Pitch it to us here and you just might get featured!

10/24: Yanahli Park Lantern Hike

Let’s hike by lantern light through Yanahli Park! As we explore the trails after dark, we’ll talk about the park’s history, the nocturnal animals and insects that come alive at night, and maybe even share a ghost story or two. Lanterns will be available for the hike, but you’re welcome to bring your own headlamp or flashlight.

Mileage, Duration, and Difficulty: 1 miles, 1-2 hours, Easy
Date/Time: Saturday, October 24 | 8:00pm
Location: Yanahli Park | Meet at Trailhead
Address: 922 Iron Bridge Rd. Columbia, TN 38401

This is a FREE program, however we do request you register in advance.

Questions? Contact us at 931-375-6106 or [email protected]

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Upcoming Local Events

🗓 Have an event to add? Send us the Details!

Wednesday, October 21st

Thursday, October 22nd

Friday, October 23rd

Saturday, October 24th

Sunday, October 25th

👇 Click the Links to Learn About our Local Business Sponsors! 👇

🎵 This Week’s Live Music

Thursday, October 22
Todd Ciprian - Tito’s, 6-9 PM
Ella Fitzgerald: First Lady of Song - CSCC Cherry Theater, 7 PM
Troy Castellano - Whiskey Alley Saloon, 7:30-9 PM

Friday, October 23
Pat Wiley Russel - Buck & Board, 6-8 PM
Stevierock - Acapulco Mexican Grill, 6:30-8:30 PM
Open Mic - Grinder’s Switch Winery, 7-9 PM
Michael Forkuo - Whiskey Alley Saloon, 7:30-9 PM
Ben Owens - Puckett’s, 7:30-9 PM
Vintage Voltage - Fozzy’s Bar & Grill, 8-11 PM

Saturday, October 24
Crossbridges - Amber Falls Winery & Cellars, 3-7 PM
Shannon McCue & The Harpeth River Boys - McCreary’s Irish Pub & Eatery, 7-9 PM
Open Mic - Grinder’s Switch Winery, 7-9 PM
The Hollybells + Rusty Shipp + Colonsay - 104 East 6th St, 7:30 PM
Curated Writers Round - The Bourbon Gospel, 7:30 PM
Dylan Cornell - The Rebel Bar & Grill, 7:30 PM
Righteous Intonation - Puckett’s, 7:30-9 PM
Whiskey River Band - The Boondox, 8 PM

Sunday, October 25
Small Town Sweethearts - Amber Falls Winery & Cellars, 1-5 PM
A Night of Worship - The Mulehouse, 6:30 PM

Want to get your business in What’s Up Columbia? Let’s talk