Isiah Thomas' mother is recovering from surgery in a Chicago-area hospital.
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"Mom came through like a champ," the NBA Hall of Famer and first-year Florida International University coach told FOXSports.com.
Mary Thomas, 86, suffered a heart attack on Saturday, two days before Thomas made his college coaching debut against North Carolina.
There was consideration to do open-heart surgery, but doctors at Aventist Hinsdale Hospital opted for a less-invasive procedure in which stents were placed in the left main artery.
"Ms. Thomas was deemed an extremely high surgical risk," Dr. Duane Follman said in a statement. "Because of her age and multiple other health factors, an invasive open heart surgery would have been too high a risk for survival and recovery. This minimally invasive procedure was a better course of treatment."
"She was very sick," Follman said. "The procedure went very well, and Ms. Thomas is expected to make a full recovery."
Thomas spent Sunday with his mother before flying into North Carolina later that night. He coached his team in a loss to the defending national champion Tar Heels before flying back to Chicago to be with his mother.
"I am so grateful to everyone who has been praying for my mother over the past few days; thanks for your prayers and kind thoughts" he said. "... The medical team put our family at ease and provided the university-level care that we have come to trust over the years."
