Former CHS teammate honors fallen football friend

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In memory of Antonio Hicks, the CHS football player who died of sudden cardiac arrest during practice Sept. 28, 2021, the first scholarship from the SASHA Club (Student Athletes Supporting Health Awareness) in his honor was given to 2023 CHS graduating senior Chase Webb Monday, May 15.

Pictured: Essence (Antonio's younger sister) LaKesha Harrison (Antonio's mom) Janel Griffis (CHS dean of students) Chase Webb (scholarship recipient) and Shaun Jonaitis (SASHA club founder and president)

On the afternoon of Tuesday, Sept. 28, 2021, during the regular practice of the Citrus High School football team, 16-year-old Antonio Hicks collapsed on the field.

Immediately, his teammates went into action, including Shaun Jonaitis who grabbed the AED machine, an Automated External Defibrillator that analyzes a person's heart rhythm during cardiac arrest, and, if necessary delivers a shock to help the heart re-establish a correct heart rhythm.

In this case, however, Hicks did not survive, but died later at the hospital.

Hicks and Shaun had been friends and teammates since they were young boys, and after Antonio's death, Shaun started a club at school, SASHA (Student Athletes Supporting Health Awareness).

He wanted to help other student athletes advocate for their own safety and awareness of conditions like sudden cardiac arrest and also learn how they could help better protect themselves.

In this Oct 2021 photo: During a football game with Crystal River less than a month after the sudden death of Antonio Hicks, Citrus High School Hurricanes’ No. 56, Shaun Jonaitis (80) and Caleb Holloway (44) hold Hicks’ jersey in tribute as the ‘Citrus take the field in Crystal River. Hicks died after collapsing during a football practice Sept. 28, 2021.

Shaun also wanted to bring more attention to Who We Play For, the nonprofit organization that comes to schools and provides ECG screenings to student athletes, which can prevent further tragedies.

This past school year, Shaun, a CHS 2023 graduate, and SASHA members raised more than $2,000.

Of that money, they decided to issue a scholarship to a deserving senior who resembled Antonio's beliefs and moral values.

On Monday, May 15, Shaun presented a $1,500 Antonio Hicks Memorial Scholarship to fellow CHS graduate Chase Webb during the CHS senior awards night.

"We chose him for a few reasons," Shaun said. "He's going into the health field, which is one of the scholarship's criteria – either health or sports."

However, it was Chase's essay that clinched it for the scholarship committee.

The committee loved that Chase wrote that he always wanted to strive to make his teammates better players and better individuals and that he believed in being a team player and making the team better as a whole, not just for himself.

He also wrote that some of his fondest memories were of sharing laughs and jokes with Antonio on the basketball court sidelines of the youth league they were a part of for many years together.

Shaun Jonaitis and Antonio Hicks, friends from boyhood.

SASHA had also wanted to donate $250 to provide 10 free ECGs to those in need during Who We Play For's previous visit to Citrus County, but the Royal Legacy had already donated the first 160 ECGs per school free this year.

Instead, SASHA decided to donate $250 to Who We Play For towards purchasing a stationary ECG machine for Citrus County students to be screened anytime someone feels there is a need.

This fall, Shaun is headed to Ohio to attend John Carroll University where he’ll be playing NCAA football and pursuing a Doctorates degree in Exercise Sciences and Athletic Training and Nutrition.

However, he plans to come back to Citrus County every year to present the Antonio Hicks Memorial Scholarship at Senior Award night.

"The club and the scholarship fund will go on," Shaun said.

Nancy Kennedy can be reached at 352-564-2927 or by email at [email protected].

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