TAMPA, Fla (WFLA) — Charlie Curtis was 15 years old when he suffered cardiac arrest while running on the track field at Plant High School.
“I never thought that anything like this could happen to me,” Curtis said.
The year was 2014 and Curtis is now 24 years old, but he remembers feeling symptoms weeks before that medical emergency happened.
“I was having some strange symptoms when I was running around, but I didn’t know at the time that it could lead to something extremely dangerous,” he shared.
Curtis recalled the incident in an interview with 8 On Your Side, just days after Bronny James, son of NBA legend Lebron James, suffered cardiac arrest during basketball practice.
Curtis remembered that his heart was beating fast, he felt light-headed and had clammy hands.
He suffered a cardiac arrest as he ran a mandatory mile in his physical education class. Curtis says thankfully school staff quickly stepped into action.
“They were able to revive me after 14 minutes of CPR and being shocked twice by the defibrillator,” he said. “I was supposed to be in a fully vegetative state but luckily due to the skills confidence and heroism of the faculty members, they saved my life.”
Curtis did have to spend a few days in a medically induced coma, but he recovered.
Dr. Patrick Mularoni is the sports medicine director at Johns Hopkins All Childrens Hospital and says acting quickly can make a difference in saving a life.
“Early CPR and knowing where an AAD is if there is one present, is very important as a spectator and as a coach,” Mularoni said.
