Two Texas high school students have been deemed heroes after saving their teacher’s life amid a cardiac event.
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According to local media outlet KEN5, Adam Compton, a teacher at MacArthur High School in San Antonio, was at a local skate club with his students on Nov. 7 when he went into cardiac arrest.
His students said they noticed something was wrong when he messed up a trick and sat down. Within a matter of seconds, he started hyperventilating and then passed out.
“I was skating real mellow that day,” Compton recalled to KENS. “Trying to save energy, be able to do some more tomorrow, and what I remember is sitting down for a little bit.”
While the teacher was suffering from the cardiac event, his students sprung into action. One of the students called 911, while others grabbed the high school’s athletic trainer, Amanda Boyd. She quickly started doing compressions.
“So, I turned him over and looked for a pulse, and I couldn’t find any, and from there, I knew he needed CPR, so I began compressions,” Boyd explained.
Two of the students, identified as Aidan Anthony-Gonzalez and Steven Amaro, grabbed the automated external deliberator (AED).
“I had two main thoughts going through my head, the ‘Oh my God, this can’t be happening’ thought, and then that I have to do something,” Anthony-Gonzalez said.
One of the High School Students Used CPR to Help the Teacher Through the Cardiac Event
Meanwhile, Amaro, who recently received his ADR-CPR certification, began helping Boyd place pads on his teacher and administer a shock.
“Apparently, that shock is what revived him,” Boyd said.
Amaro told KSAT12 that he never thought he would have to perform CPR in person.
“It’s something you don’t expect,” he explained. “And it’s a once-in-a-lifetime thing that should never happen to anyone.”
Within a matter of minutes, the local EMS arrived on the scene and rushed Compton to a nearby hospital.
The doctors confirmed that Compton had a genetic heart disorder, which causes him to go into cardiac arrest.
“We always thought it was a heart murmur, ever since I was a kid,” Compton said. He also revealed that he has been fitted with a pacemaker and has since returned to teaching.
The students were relieved that Compton made such a quick recovery.
“As much as he’s our teacher, he’s also one of our best friends,” Gonzalez stated.
Compton publicly thanked the students in a video.
“I am just, I’m insanely grateful. I’m 46 years old, and I’ve got teenage kids and a wife and, so it’s been a real sobering thought,” he said. “Just thinking about, like, what if you guys hadn’t been there? Thank you, guys. Pat yourselves on the back and everything. You can be very proud of yourselves.”
“I’m really glad I was here and glad I’m still here. I look forward to skating more,” he added. “I’m going to live life under 140 beats a minute now. But I’m only able to do it just because you guys jumped up and did it. So, thank you guys.”