We will be reporting on lives saved around the world since our first documented life saved here in Singapore.
Emilio Martinez the Survivor
17-year old Martinez had just wrapped up his daily workout in his advanced weights class Monday afternoon.
Physical education teacher Jay Johnson, an assistant Cienega football coach, saw Martinez faint, hit his chin on a weight bench barbell as he collapsed and drop to the floor unconscious.
Johnson is trained in cardiopulmonary resuscitation, as are all of Cienega’s coaches. He began attending to Martinez as a student ran to get Schneider.
“When I got there, I immediately assessed the situation and knew right away we needed the AED,” Schneider said.
“I’ve never actually had to use an AED or even do CPR before,” she said. “I’m trained for both, but never have actually been in a situation where I had to do it. It was sort of an out-of-body experience. I guess the training just took over and I was just doing what I knew to do to help him.”
“When we were done,” Schneider said, “I plugged this into my computer and it gave the paramedics and doctors a printout of everything that happened from the time I opened the AED to the time I closed it, including all his heart rates and any other info.”
Martinez, a seemingly healthy athlete in a family with no history of heart conditions, has been at University Medical Center since the collapse, frequently visited by friends and family members.
Philip, a landscaper, and Alberta, a bus driver, both 43, were at work Monday when they heard.
“This just came out of nowhere” the father said. “Right now, we just can’t say how grateful we are to the school, to Deana and Jay, and to everyone that helped keep him alive.”
“Without that (device) and without her there, the doctors said my son would have probably died,” said Phil Martinez. “. . . I can’t tell you how grateful my wife and I are that they were there and handling the situation the way they did.”
“It’s a shock,” Philip Martinez said. “At 17 years old, these kinds of things aren’t supposed to happen. The fact my son is here is testament to why schools should have them.”
“I’m just glad they were there to help me,” said Emilio, adding that the last thing he remembers was finishing class and heading to the locker room. It wasn’t until late Monday night that he awoke in the hospital to find his father by his bedside.
“I have no words,” said a tearful Alberta, who said she couldn’t sleep Monday because of the shock of nearly losing Emilio, the youngest of four who enjoys wrestling and is a middle linebacker on the football team.
“How do you say, ‘Thank you. Our son is here today because of what you did’?”
“That AED? It’s already paid for itself. Every (school) better have one. Even if they never need it, they better have one.
