Lincoln honors late teen by retiring baseball jersey

LINCOLN, R.I. (WLNE) –The Lincoln community held a special ceremony Thursday to recognize the family of Michael Monteleone.

The 14–year–old had just finished baseball practice with his teammates in may 2005, when he suddenly collapsed on the field.

He died of a rare heart condition called Arrythmogenic Right Ventricular Cardiomyopathy.

His life could have been saved by an automated external defibrillator, or AED.

Since his passing his family has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to bring AEDs to every middle and high school across the state.

“That’s what I wanted,” said Michael’s father, Anthony Monteleone. “To make sure no one else goes through what we went through.”

“Once that tragedy had taken place, they really made an impact on the community and made sure that others were protected going forward,” said Lincoln High Principal Kevin McNamara.

Thursday the community recognized the family’s contributions with a special ceremony retiring Michael’s number eight jersey.

“To see all these people here, the emotion, the love, the caring,” Anthony Monteleone said. “Past coaches, past friends, family, neighbors, it’s really a beautiful tribute to a nice young man.”

“It’s an honor,” said Alyssa McCoart of Lincoln. “It was a very emotional day…it was great having the community come together, all the teams to be here honoring him in his anniversary. So it was a very special day for everyone.”

“We’re all a family here,” said Lincoln Athletic Director Greg O’Connor. “To bring everybody back, to have them all on the field, and to have more than 200 student athletes together, as one. Unity, and that’s what we’re all about here in Lincoln.”

McNamara says all of the school’s teams now carry AEDs with them for home and away games.

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