This browser does not support the Video element.
Airlift to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta saves teen's life
The mother of a Georgia teen with a rare heart disorder says her family was given the scare of a lifetime when her son's heart stopped in the middle of the school day last year. She tells FOX 5 the nurses at his school and doctors at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta are the reasons he's alive today.
ATLANTA - The mother of a Georgia teen with a rare heart disorder said her family was given the scare of a lifetime when her son’s heart stopped in the middle of the school day last year.
She told FOX 5’s Joi Dukes the school nursing staff and doctors at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta are the reason he’s alive today.
"He literally ran up a flight of stairs and then his heart stopped," Meghann Etheridge said.
A normal school day for her 13-year-old son Collin ended with medics rushing him to a local hospital after he suddenly collapsed.
"We were concerned but not overly concerned until we got the second call that he had no pulse and was not breathing," Etheridge recalled.
She told FOX 5 school staff acted quickly—calling 911, performing CPR and AED shock while they waited for help.
Doctors at the hospital in Columbus realized shortly after his arrival that with the severity of Collin’s condition, his best option for survival was being airlifted to Children’s.
"Literally, I think our world sort of went on pause and everything went in slow motion," the teen’s mother said.
The cause of the collapse was a rare heart arrhythmia disorder called catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia or CPVT—which, left untreated, can be fatal.
With time a limited resource, medical staff requested medevac status to fly through Hartsfield-Jackson’s airspace. Doctors at Children’s used an ECMO machine to treat Collin.
"He went on life support for what I believe was a day and a half, and then he was in the hospital for what I believe was nine days," Etheridge recalled.
Collin has since made a full recovery and takes daily medication to help his condition. His mother said their family has committed to volunteering with Project SAVE as a show of gratitude for the lifesaving treatment he received at Children’s.
"We just want to make sure that awareness goes out about how important CPR and AEDs are…it can strike anyone and anyone’s family--especially children," she explained.
The goal of Project SAVE is to educate and train people on how to handle a situation where someone goes into cardiac arrest. For more information on the hospital’s initiative, click here.