18-year-old senior Jake Bryan collapsed on January 13th while giving an English presentation.
Students, teachers, and nurses quickly came to Jake’s aid.
“He was not one who typically had seizures, so at that point, we knew that it was an emergency, and I called 9-1-1 and nurse Nancy started monitoring him,” said Bonnie Davis, registered nurse.
Nurse Nancy Bocchino described the scene.
“Lying face down, blood around his head, in the middle of a seizure,” she said.
While the nurses performed CPR on Jake, a teacher ran upstairs to get a defibrillator.
“It was a horrible day, because he was dead on us, he was dead,” added Bocchino.
An automated external defibrillator or AED was used to jumpstart Jake’s heart.
“It was like a gasp, and we looked up, and the firefighters and EMT’s were there. They stepped in at that point,” Bocchino said.
Jake was then taken to Huntsville Hospital’s Heart Center where Doctors performed a series of tests.
“It showed a type of abnormality that people have, who have an inherited problem, that can lead to sudden death,” said Dr. Jay Dinerman, cardiologist.
It’s an abnormality known in the medical world as Long QT syndrome, and it’s an inherited defect that will change part of Jake’s life forever.
From here on out, he’ll have to wear his own defibrillator.
With the exception of contact sports, Jake can now live a pretty normal life.
“He’s a great kid, he’s very up-beat, optimistic. I think he took this the way you would really want to see people take it. He realized it was something that happened to him, something he was born with, nothing he could do much about. He’s just moving on.”
Moving on, but with a new outlook on life.
“Are you thankful for your life,” asked WAFF 48 News.
“Yeah I am, it just opened up more opportunities since I’ve had this heart attack. I feel blessed,” Jake said.
“I’ve already told them, but I’d like to say thank you again, I love all of you, you’re the reason why I’m here,” he added about those who helped him.
Jake has now graduated. He wants to go to Embry Riddle to become a pilot.
