Dee Khamphusiri would not be alive today if not for some quick-thinking staff and a nearby defibrillator after the 17-year-old student suffered sudden cardiac arrest at a Craigieburn gym.
According to the Hume Leader, the Craigieburn teen was enjoying his first gym class with fellow Mount Ridley College students when his heart stopped pumping and he collapsed.
It was the quick thinking of teacher Tess Porter and gym club manager Jamie Ford, along with a defibrillator, that helped Dee survive.
‘At first I thought the kids were just mucking around and he got pushed,’ Ms Ford said.
When she realised he could be having a seizure, she immediately called 000.
The pair performed CPR and compressions under the instruction of an emergency services dispatcher and the automated external defibrillator, which guided them until emergency crews arrived 17 minutes later. Dee was eventually taken to The Northern Hospital and placed in an induced coma for six days.
Dee had shown no signs of a pre-existing heart condition. Doctors suspected the cardiac arrest had been the result of severely low levels of potassium and a rare inflammation on the inside of his heart.
Dee, in conjunction with manufacturer HeartSine Technologies, has donated a unit to his school to raise awareness of sudden cardiac arrest and the effectiveness of automated external defibrillators.