Eden Prairie Teen Dies After Complications During Wisdom Teeth Surgery
Update: Diane Galleger, Sydney's mother, said in a post on a CaringBridge page that her daughter had died. Visitation hours will be held Friday at St. Andrew Lutheran Church in Eden Prairie, and a funeral service will be held on Saturday at St. Andrew Lutheran Church in Eden Prairie.
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Just days after going in for a routine procedure at the dentist's office, doctors have said there is nothing more they can do for a Eden Prairie teenager.
The parents of 17-year-old Sydney Galleger shared on her CaringBridge website each step of her battle. She went in to get her wisdom teeth out Tuesday, and that's when she went into cardiac arrest.
They said the wisdom teeth surgery was going fine until the end, when Sydney's blood pressure shot up and her pulse dropped. The doctor and emergency responders tried CPR.
Throughout the next few days in the hospital, her parents again shared the roller coaster of events that ensued -- from stable condition to critical, and the brain swelling and seizures that continued.
The whole time the family was surrounded by thoughts and prayers of a community. When Sydney's difficult journey ended Friday, the outpouring of support only grew.
On Monday, family members updated her page, saying that although there had been reports that she had passed away over the weekend, she was still alive.
"She is in very critical condition and of course we are praying for a miracle but we also have to face the reality that the prognosis is not good," her family wrote.
Doctors said that she had met nine of the 10 criteria to be considered brain dead; she was still able to breathe on her own.
"We want to rewind to Monday where we had our happy, healthy, funny, beautiful 17-year-old daughter," her mother wrote earlier.
Full of healthy and happy teens, the girls on Eden Prairie's lacrosse team can easily see themselves in fellow athlete Sydney Galleger.
"When I think about it, it just makes me reflect on my own life and my own friends and family," student Serena Rutledge said.
Using Galleger's favorite color, students wore blue ribbons to show support during a confusing time, after a young life was taken.
"She really did touch so many lives," student Kate Piechowski said.
Family members said while they don't know what exactly happened, there could have been a heart condition they didn't know about.
"We are so devastated that this has happened to our precious daughter and are still trying to process and make sense of it all," her family wrote.
