Carson High School student saves dad's life with CPR learned in class

A ninth-grade Carson High School student used the cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) skills she learned in her Carson High School health science class to save her father’s life.

Two weeks ago, Iris Ibarra Montes rehearsed the life-saving steps to save father after he collapsed from a medical emergency at home.

She said she quickly recognized the signs of cardiac arrest, called 911 and immediately began performing life-saving chest compressions. Iris performed CPR for more than 10 minutes, with no other adults in the house, while she waited for paramedics to arrive.

“I just remembered what we practiced in class,” Iris said in a statement. “It all happened so fast, but I knew I had to keep going until help arrived.”

She credits her “Principles of Health Science” teacher, Frank Sakelarios, saying she would have no idea how to react in the situation if it weren’t for his hands-on training and skills she learned in his class.

Upon arrival, paramedics found the father unresponsive but were able to resuscitate him. They credited Iris’s fast, effective response with helping stabilize her father’s condition before they transported him to the hospital. He is now recovering with an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) but is expected to make a full recovery.

“Iris is an outstanding student and a shining example of how education can be applied in real-world emergency situations,” Sakelarios said in a statement. “As a first-year student in this program, she has already distinguished herself as one of the kindest, most hardworking, and deeply committed individuals—both in her academics and in her devotion to her family. I know her family hopes this experience will inspire other students to learn more about the program and consider following in her footsteps.”

According to her school counselor, Maddie Hull-Taylor, Iris is ranked in the Top 20% of her class with a 3.43 grade point average (GPA). She is scheduled to take sports medicine next year in the HOSA – Future Health Professionals program, and after working with the paramedics and nurses who helped save her dad’s life, Iris plans to continue her medical education and go into nursing.