Walter “Wally” Blucas served as PIAA District 10’s chairman for 32 years before he resigned in 2015.
Given his former role, it was fitting Kristen Blucas used a sports analogy when she updated the health of her father, who nearly died last Dec. 27.
Wally Blucas was rescued from the in-law suite of a suburban Philadelphia home owned by his son, actor and former Girard basketball star Marc Blucas.
Authorities later confirmed a carbon monoxide leak was the reason Wally Blucas was found unconscious on the property’s first floor and Dayle Haddon, the mother of Marc Blucas’ wife Ryan Haddon, dead on the second floor.
Dayle Haddon, a former model and actress, was 76.
Walter “Wally” Blucas in a March 2024 photo.
Wally Blucas was initially flown to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and then sent to another hospital later that day. Kristen Blucas wouldn’t say where her father was transferred when she was formerly contacted by the Erie Times-News, but did mention he was out of critical condition and making progress.
That progress, according to Kristen Blucas, continues in northwestern Pennsylvania. She confirmed in a Tuesday email to the Times-News that her father is recovering locally with help from a LECOM Health Inpatient Rehabilitation team led by Dr. Doug Fronzaglia:
“A ‘fourth-quarter player,'” Kristen Blucas said in her email, “can often refer to an athlete who performs their best typically (in the) fourth quarter. It can often signify someone who rises to the occasion when the stakes are highest, the pressure and game (are on) the line and the outcome is uncertain. In the past weeks since the tragic carbon monoxide accident landed him in critical condition, some have called Wally Blucas a fourth-quarter player. Others have said that his survival is a miracle.
“We’re pleased to report that he’s in a medically stable condition, gaining strength daily and on the way to a full recovery.”
Kristen Blucas, a board member for the Girard Education Foundation, also thanked LECOM personnel for their care and those who have offered support and prayers to her family.
More: How is Wally Blucas after being rescued from actor son’s home? Daughter provides update
More background
Marc Blucas and his wife weren’t home at the time of the Dec. 27 incident, which began when a neighbor called 911 around 6:30 a.m. The couple, according to a records check by Philadelphia television station WPVI, purchased the home for more than $1 million in 2012.
Marc Blucas, 53, was a two-time PIAA basketball champion at Girard High School. He played Division I basketball for Wake Forest University and then began an acting career.
Marc Blucas, who turned 53 last Saturday, was a two-time PIAA basketball champion by the time he graduated from Girard in 1990. He played Division I basketball for Wake Forest University and then began an acting career.
Contact Mike Copper at mcopper@timesnews.com. Follow him on X @ETNcopper.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Former D-10 chairman Wally Blucas recovering with help from LECOM