Atlanta actor Quinton Aaron, who played NFL player Michael Oher in the 2009 movie “The Blind Side” is on life support after suffering an infection, according to a GoFundMe post raising money for his medical bills.
The fundraiser, run by a charity that Aaron supports called Veterans Aid Network, says Aaron has a blood infection the doctors are trying to treat. As of Monday evening, more than $35,000 has been raised including $10,000 from Alcon Entertainment, the company that produced “The Blind Side.”
At 2:51 p.m., the site updated with good news: “Quinton has opened his eyes and has some feeling in his foot! He is 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. Thank you to all of you for your support and prayers.”
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Dan Farr, a friend of Aaron’s who runs multiple fan conventions including the ATL Comic Convention, said he was shocked when he heard the news Friday from Aaron’s wife Maggie Mendoza.
“It’s very scary for the family, very emotional,” Farr told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Monday after speaking to Mendoza Monday afternoon. “He’d been doing so well with his health and had lost a lot of weight last year. But he does have underlying medical conditions that continue to challenge him.”
She told him Aaron is in critical condition. “When he woke up briefly, he responded to a foot tickle and gave a thumbs-up when asked if he could move his hands,” Farr said. “He isn’t speaking because of tubes in his mouth.”
He also said that Aaron did not fall down the stairs as other sites have reported. He lost feeling in his legs and his wife was able to catch him and help him to the couch.
“They don’t know what is causing this,” Farr added. “They are still running a lot of tests. He is showing progress and tomorrow their goal will be to interact (with) him enough to keep him awake for up to two hours.”
Aaron has appeared at several of Farr’s fan conventions including three in Atlanta. When Aaron spent a few months living in Utah, where Farr resides, they socialized multiple times.
“We’d go to restaurants and he’d be so friendly with the fans,” Farr said. “He’d give fans the ‘Blind Side’ bear hug. It became his trademark. He’d say, ‘I’m America’s teddy bear!’”
Aaron has been an active actor with 63 credits on his IMDb page, mostly an array of independent films. According to IMDb, he has 11 upcoming projects including “The Walk-On’s,” a film which is set to shoot in metro Atlanta and Savannah.
“The Blind Side,” a biographical film that was shot in metro Atlanta, was a huge hit in 2009, generating $309 million in box office gross on a $29 million budget. The film received an Academy Award nomination for best picture, and Sandra Bullock won a best actress Oscar for her performance.
Aaron also received several award nominations for his performance in the film, including nods from the BET Awards, NAACP Image Awards and MTV TV and Movie Awards.
Aaron played Oher, a football offensive lineman who grew up poor but received help from Leigh Anne and Sean Tuohy to make it to the NFL.
In 2023, Oher filed a lawsuit alleging he was never actually adopted and was forced into a conservatorship. Oher also said he received no compensation for the movie.
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