QUEPOS, Costa Rica — The doctor who treated the unresponsive son of former New York Yankee Brett Gardner revealed that he fought for 30 minutes to save the 14-year-old boy, but could not revive him.
Dr. Kevin Gannon, who runs Quepos Urgent Care near the high-end resort where Miller Gardner died, told The New York Post that the teen was unresponsive when he arrived on Friday morning, and tried in vain to revive the boy before authorities arrived.
“From what we encountered there, we could not verify a cause of death,” Gannon said. “To us it was very confusing.
“We responded to a minor without vitals,” he added. “We tested him for cardiac arrest and performed CPR for more than 30 minutes. There was not really much we could significantly do.”
Gannon said the Gardners had all vomited after getting sick following the dinner the night before.
But, he said he did not believe that either food poisoning or an allergic reaction were responsible for Miller’s death.
“There’s so much BS going around,” the doctor said. “Some people are saying it was anaphylactic shock from food he ate. But I will say it is very, very rare for a patient to eat food and go that long without a reaction. Usually it’s right away.”
Follow the latest on the death of Brett Gardner’s 14-year-old son Miller:
Brett and Jessica Gardner and their two sons were vacationing at the Arenas Del Mar Beachfront & Rainforest Resort at Manuel Antonio National Park when Miller was reportedly treated by hotel doctors for food poisoning, according to Costa Rican police.
Police initially believed the teen died from asphyxiation due to food poisoning, but ruled out that he choked to death after an initial examination over the weekend.
On Wednesday, authorities said they suspected Miller may have had an allergic reaction to the medication he was given – but Gannon called that unlikely as well.
“Allergic reactions to normal gastrointestinal medications are very rare,” he said.
“Most of the acute GI conditions can be treated with over the counter medication. And most do not have severe side effects or else they would not be over the counter.”
Gannon said he is eager for toxicology tests to be done on the teen — though officials warn that could take months.
