Sam Cockrell’s Incredible Cardiac Arrest Survival Story | #WhyItMatters

Sam Cockrell’s Incredible Cardiac Arrest Survival Story | #WhyItMatters

DAPHNE, AL — Sam Cockrell looks to be your average 22-year-old.

He’s strong and built like an athlete.

He works hard in his role as a Mechanical Engineer in Southern Alabama. And enjoys his life with wife Olivia.

But behind that seemingly normal appearance is a story of survival. A life forever changed.

Sam was once training to become a professional triathlete. But those dreams had to put aside after surviving not one but two Sudden Cardiac Arrest events. He is alive today because of the quick thinking of a trained individual who administered CPR and an AED.

Today, his mother Amy runs Hearts for Athletes. She seeks to promote both primary and secondary SCA awareness measures. And save future lives like Sam’s.

Sam’s Survival Story

In 2013, at the age of 16, Sam was well on his way to becoming a professional triathlete. Sam was a born athlete and began competing in triathlons in 2010. By 2013, he’d ran, swam, and biked in over 50 events. He was also a proud member of the Team USA Youth Triathlon team. But everything changed one day during a routine training swim at his local YMCA.

While practicing with his team in the pool, he experienced sudden fatigue and heart palpitations.

“I really don’t remember getting out of the pool, but one of my teammates told me to get out of the pool,” said Sam, recalling the event in a news interview after the event. “I sat down….and then I passed out.”

Overhead from the pool was Aaron Morgan. He was exiting the sauna and saw commotion around the pool. Catching the eye of the team, who were now huddled around an unconscious Sam. Someone who knew he was a medical student shouted for him to come over.

When he reached Sam, he immediately recognized the signs of a Sudden Cardiac Arrest. Turning Sam over on his back, he began to administer CPR. In the process, he instructed staff to retrieve the AED that was in the nearby lobby.

“I just went into the motions of what we’re trained to do,” recalls Dr. Morgan in an interview given shortly after the event. “It was very important to be as calm as possible so that we could maximize Sam’s resuscitation.”

The AED (Automated External Defibrillator) shocked Sam’s heart twice before EMS arrived four minutes later. Sam’s heart started beating again in route to the hospital, 20 minutes after his SCA event started.

“Because of immediate access to bystander CPR, defibrillation by an AED, and rapid response by local EMS, Sam’s life was saved,” says Amy. This is because of proper training, equipment, and a timely response to an SCA event.

Sam’s Fight to Survive Continued

Sam went under extensive care and testing at the Children’s Hospital in Birmingham. It was there that Sam was given the diagnosis of a rare form of cardiomyopathy, called ARVD. This hidden heart condition is often caught in preventative heart screenings. But Sam had never undergone one in his sports physical. Sam received an implantable defibrillator. This device, known as an ICD, would help prevent future SCA events. But his SCA story doesn’t end here.

In 2014, a few months after his sudden cardiac arrest, Sam began to pursue his academic dreams. He majored in Mechanical Engineering at the University of South Alabama.

One day on campus, while walking with a friend up a few flights of stairs, Sam’s heart began to experience an arrhythmia. This arrhythmia caused his ICD device to shock him multiple times, but it was unable to stop it.

After shocking him innumerable times, the battery died on the device. Sam then suffered another Sudden Cardiac Arrest event. A trained individual would perform CPR for an hour before Sam’s heart returned rhythm.

Miraculously, Sam survived with no neurological deficits. Six days later, once stabilized, Sam would fly by air-ambulance to John Hopkins in Baltimore. There he received further tests and procedures.

Seventeen days after the SCA event, he was able to return to classes as normal. Unfortunately, Sam’s condition would continue to cause life-threatening arrhythmia.

He later required further treatment and procedures in 2014. These took place at both the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles.

How Sam Formed A New Future For Himself

Because of his progressive heart condition, Sam’s dreams of becoming a professional triathlete were over. Any cardio activity could cause further strain on his heart, which meant Sam had to make a new life for himself, giving up the things he loved most. Sam had to pursue new endeavors.

Today, he enjoys a full life – he’s happily married to wife Olivia and enjoys traveling alongside her, as well as fishing and playing the guitar.

His story could have had a completely different outcome had it not been for the quick and coordinated response of those who witnessed his SCA. Sam is alive today because someone performed CPR and the YMCA had an AED.

Amy Steps Forwards to Help Save Lives

Passionate about saving future lives just like Sam’s fueled mother Amy to start the Heart for Athletes, a foundation dedicated to primary and secondary prevention of Sudden Cardiac Arrest events in youth, specifically athletes, just one year after Sam’s first SCA event.

The primary means of prevention is discovering a hidden heart condition in a child before an SCA event even occurs. Although schools require student-athletes to go through a pre-participation physical, a crucial heart screen is not a part of the routine exam.

That’s where Amy and her team come in.

“The desire of Heart for Athletes is to be a part of the growing trend to perform cardiac screenings on athletes prior to their participation in athletic activities,” said Amy. “Several conditions that lead to SCA [are detectable] during routine heart screenings.” A preventative heart screen likely would have helped detect Sam’s condition prior to his SCA event.

To help save future lives, Heart for Athletes works within the communities of Baldwin and Mobile, AL to provide free preventative heart screenings to youth ages 12-18. To date, they have screened over 2,000 youth and are not stopping there.

Recognizing that not every SCA event is preventable, Heart for Athletes also works to promote secondary measures of prevention by working to ensure communities know how to respond with an immediate plan of response when the unthinkable occurs.

They are active champions of CPR and AED training within communities and have been able to provide this training to over 2,500 people thus far. As they continue to develop this portion of the Foundation, Amy hopes to expand on this by working with schools and sports organizations to host cardiac emergency response drills, allowing parents, students, teachers, and coaches the opportunity to put CPR/AED skills into practice.

“The more people who recognize SCA when it happens, and are prepared to react…with proper CPR and AED equipment, the safer our young athletes and our communities will be,” says Amy of her passion and goals for the Foundation.

5 Ways You Can Take Action Against Sudden Cardiac Arrest

Why It Matters

Sam’s story illustrates that lives can be saved after an SCA when people are aware of what is happening and react swiftly with a coordinated response.

Because Dr. Aaron Morgan knew CPR and because there was an AED on hand at that YMCA, Sam’s life was saved. And he’s able to pursue his dreams and be an active part of the community today because of that.

This is the passion behind everything we do at Emerg-A-Center – providing the tools and training necessary to potentially save a life.

As the market’s only safety command center to feature an AED, we put the needed tools in the home and safely within reach.

And now with the introduction of our On the Go Bags, sports families can take safety on the go to sporting events, practices, and cross-country athletic trips. The bags feature not only the needed first aid supplies but provide immediate access to an AED in the clear front pouch for quick response time to a Sudden Cardiac Arrest.

With over 70% of SCA events happening in or around the home, we’re proud to provide a Center that not only supplies first aid, but also gives access to a potentially life-saving tool in the event of an SCA event.

AED’s save lives, but only if there is one nearby and there is a trained individual ready to act.