A high school football player from Hunt County is in the intensive care unit at Children's Medical Center of Dallas, recovering from heat stroke.
Mason Gonzalez, 17, of Commerce, nearly collapsed after practice Thursday morning.
His coaches at Wolfe City High School first tried to cool him off in the shower, then called for an ambulance to rush the right tackle to Hunt Regional Medical Center in Greenville.
"I was never prepared to ever get a call like that," said the teen's mother, Barbara Gonzalez-Peden.
"I was in a complete panic. We had someone from the same town a year ago, a little boy, that passed away from heat stroke. So that's the first thing that popped through my mind is I was thinking of him."
The 6'2", 270-pound stand-out right tackle is in stable condition in the ICU.
"His body was able to drop down to normal temperature, body temperature," his mother said.
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"If we had to do it over, probably on Monday, we probably would have done something a little bit different," said Mason's step-father Gerald Peden.
His parents suspected something was wrong after the first day of practice and now have a warning for other parents.
"I could tell on Monday night in his eyes that he just didn't look right," said said Gonzalez-Peden. "And I was like, 'Mason do you feel OK?' And he was like, 'Yes, momma, I feel fine.'"
"Just really push your children to stay hydrated," she added.
Mason's coaches visited him at the hospital Thursday night, and his parents say they did everything right.
Doctors at Children's Medical Center are looking for any underlying conditions, but say Mason should make a full recovery.
