John Thomas Is Ill
John Thomas, 15, son of Mr. and Mrs. A. Paul Thomas, entered Home hospital Tuesday afternoon and since has had five blood transfusions. He had a good night and is somewhat better this morning. His father is Erie manager of the Public Service company. The family moved from Sterling to Erie last October. John is a member of the Erie high school basketball squad and is a sophomore.

Have Blood Typed To Help Erie Student
Teachers of the Erie Community high school who went to Sterling Wednesday to have their blood typed for a transfusion for John Thomas who is ill at the Home hospital in Sterling were P.H. Di Vall, Coach George Smilanich, George Pelletier, Ralph Moens and Vernon Nelson. Others of the faculty knew their blood type and that it would not correspond. A number of Legionnaires of the Erie post are in readiness to go but were told not to come unless called. John’s father, Paul Thomas, gave his son blood Tuesday. John is a student at the Erie Community high school and the only son of his parents. He has been a member of the basketball squad for the past season. He is 15 years of age.

Two of the above were called Wednesday evening to give blood transfusions. The young man’s condition is considered very critical.

John Thomas, 15, Critically Ill in Billings Memorial Hospital
Erie, Mar. 11 – John Thomas, 15-year-old son of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Thomas, and a sophomore in the Erie Community high school, remains critically ill in Billings Memorial hospital, Chicago. Specialists are attempting to discover the cause of the illness and John has been given several blood transfusions.

He was taken first to Home hospital at Sterling but was removed to the Chicago hospital last Saturday.

Several persons have offered blood for transfusions. Among them are Principal P. H. DiVall, George Pelletier, Ralph Moens, George Smilanich and Vernon Nelson, teachers in the school here, and members of the Erie American Legion.

Mrs. Thomas and Mrs. Frank Tritz of Sterling, John’s aunt, are staying with him in Chicago. His address there is John Thomas, Division M-5, Room 525, Billings Memorial hospital, 950 East 59th Street, Chicago 37, Illinois.

John is a member of the Erie basketball team.

Continued Tests To Seek Cause Of Erie Student’s Illness
John Thomas, 15-year-old Erie high school sophomore, who has been kept alive for over a week by wholesale blood transfusions, is the object of extensive tests to discover the cause of acute hemorrhaging. He is in the Billings Memorial hospital in Chicago.

He is undergoing X-ray and clinical tests in an effort to halt the mysterious bleeding that has kept him in critical condition for over a week.

The youth’s father, A. Paul Thomas, said that the blood transfusions have been the only source of nourishment.

An attempt to X-ray the youth Monday failed as the youth collapsed from weakness. However, the hospital made X-rays Wednesday, the father reported.

To date, the youth has received 17 or 18 transfusions. He was taken to the Home hospital in Sterling and was removed to the Chicago hospital last Saturday.

Classmates at the Erie high school have sent the youth an autographed basketball.

April 4, 1952 - John Thomas Coming Home
Erie – John Thomas is to come home tonight with his parents from the Billings Memorial hospital at Chicago, where he spent nearly a month. His father, Paul Thomas, and the latter’s brother-in-law, Frank Tritz of Sterling, went to Chicago today to get John, Mrs. Thomas and Mrs. Tritz. Both women have been in Chicago since March *, when John was taken to Billings hospital from the Home hospital in Sterling.

The high school youth had entered the Home hospital March 4, suffering with severe hemorrhages. He received many transfusions, and underwent surgery for the removal of the spleen on March 24.