The actor Quinton Aaron, best known for his starring role in the Oscar-nominated film The Blind Side, has reportedly been placed on life support while grappling with a severe blood infection, according to multiple outlets citing interviews with his wife.
Margarita Aaron reportedly confirmed to Fox News and TMZ that her 41-year-old husband was intubated on Friday and placed on life support after he lost feeling in his legs while walking up their home’s stairs and collapsed, prompting her to call 911.
“After the 911 call, we went to the hospital and the doctors determined to put him on an endotracheal tube because his breathing was a little sporadic,” Margarita Aaron reportedly told Fox. “They’re continuing to run tests right now to find out what the root cause of the issue is.”
She added: “He’s still on antibiotics, blanket antibiotics to just cover whatever the issue might be with regard to his blood.”
Margarita said that Aaron’s medical team had said that his status was “day by day” – but described him as a “very strong fighter” and said that she was remaining optimistic.
A GoFundMe campaign meant to assist Aaron’s family had raised more than $37,000 by Tuesday. The fundraiser’s page states that Aaron is “currently hospitalized and on life support due to a severe blood infection” and described the hospitalization as “sudden, frightening, and overwhelming for his loved ones”.
An update on the GoFundMe page on Monday stated that Aaron “has opened his eyes and has some feeling in his foot!” But it added that he was “still on life support and going through tests”.
“We are looking at quite a recovery time and will need a wheelchair when he is released while he goes through therapy to walk again,” the page added.
The campaign’s GoFundMe page explained that it was organized by Veterans Aid Network because the actor is part of a military veteran family.
In 2009’s The Blind Side, Aaron portrays a young Michael Oher, who eventually made it to the National Football League and won a Super Bowl. Aaron acts alongside Sandra Bullock in the biopic. Bullock won an Oscar for her portrayal of Leigh Anne Tuohy, whose family took Oher in when he was in high school.
The Blind Side also earned a nomination for a best picture Oscar.
Oher in August 2023 alleged in court that Tuohy and her husband, Sean, of misleading him into thinking they adopted him when they entered into a conservatorship agreement with him in 2004.
A judge ended the conservatorship in September 2023. And later, a lawyer for the Tuohys said the couple would remove from their website and public speaking materials references to Oher being their adopted son.
