It was a walking miracle at Somerset Academy High School in Pembroke Pines Thursday as a student shook hands with the people who saved his life two weeks ago to the day after he suffered a cardiac arrest.
Lorenzo Blackshear, 18, was playing basketball in P.E. class on November 30th when he fainted and suffered a cardiac arrest.
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"I don’t remember much, all I remember is me waking up in the hospital," said Blackshear, a senior at Somerset Academy.
Fortunately, teacher and paramedic Andrew Vega rushed to his side.
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"I got there, checked for a pulse, no pulse and just started CPR," said Vega, a paramedic who teaches EMT/EMR classes.
Blackshear started breathing again, but would lose consciousness over and over on the way to the hospital. His mother was emotional recalling the moment she learned what happened.
"I froze, my brain was on pause, I didn’t know what to do and I got to the hospital and I saw him on the bed and he was lifeless, laying there,” said mother Yonette Stephen through tears. "That was very hard for me."
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Blackshear spent eight days in the hospital and needed surgery. Doctors diagnosed him with a rare heart condition that will keep him from playing sports again. Still, it’s a wonder he’s doing so well.
"They did everything we possibly could to make sure that Lorenzo had a second chance. Not a lot of people get a second chance, this is a very good ending to a nightmare," Principal Bernardo Montero said.
Staff attribute the success in part to Project ADAM, a Nicklaus Children’s Hospital initiative that teaches school staff life-saving protocols to address sudden cardiac arrest events.
"I can’t think that anybody anticipated that day that they would be using the skills they were taught. They did and they saved Lorenzo’s life,” said Melissa Olen, a nurse who leads Project ADAM at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital.
"To see him sitting here right now is absolutely amazing, we are very very grateful," said Stephen.
"Looking at him the way he was Thursday to where he is now is like a miracle," said his father, Lorenzo W. Blackshear.
The family is asking for donations to help pay for Lorenzo’s hospital bills. Click here to donate. For more information on Project ADAM, click here.
