ST. CLOUD, FLA -- With a seat in the back corner of a small gym, Simon Desangles leans forward and watches intently. 

His son Jacob is attacking dribbling drill after drill with sweat pouring down his face. 

Simon continues to tap his wrist. 

"It's all about timing," Simon said. "He's getting better but it's all going to come together in time." 

For Jacob his basketball career is broken up into two time frames. He's currently in his second chapter; the recovery. 

“I couldn’t really stop playing basketball," Jacob said. "Before the surgery something could have happened. I could have never touched a ball again. It kind of wakes me up.”

The Osceola senior guard was born with an anomolous left coronary artery. It's a condition responsible for twelve percent of sudden athlete-related deaths. Jacob underwent a six-hour operation in January. 

“Me and my wife, we were like this is a tough situation," Simon says. "I don’t wish it on no one at all.”

Jacob made it through the surgery with no issues. A day into his recovery, he was shooting on a plastic hoop in his hospital room. 

“It wasn’t too bad honestly," Jacob said. "I remember I woke up and I told my dad “you ugly.”

“I think that was his way of telling me, Dad don’t worry I’m good.”

Three months later, Jacob is more than good. He hasn't missed a beat in his workouts mainaining his dream of playing college basketball. 

For a dad sitting off the side, watching his son's intense workouts gives him peace of mind. 

“He’s a fighter and survivor. I’m inspired by him let’s put it that way.”