Please congratulate Heather — she’s doing great and back to school and basketball after a heart attack in eighth grade!

[View Post on LinkedIn]

[UCSF Benioff Children's Hospitals]In September 2023, Heather was in class in Tracy when her lips turned blue, and she began to wheeze and fell to the floor. A quick-thinking classmate called 911, and her principal began CPR. 

The police and fire department arrived, replacing her principal’s CPR with an AED machine. Soon after, Heather's heart stopped. Fortunately, after four shocks, her heart began to beat again. She was rushed to a local hospital, where providers placed her in a medically induced coma and airlifted her to our Oakland hospital. There, tests revealed that the lower portion of Heather's heart had sustained damage due to a sudden unexplained cardiac arrest. Three days later, she traveled to our Mission Bay hospital for surgery, and cardiologist Dr. Karyn Austin successfully placed an ICD device. 

Between both hospitals, Heather spent more than two weeks in the Cardiac ICU and was happy to receive cards and letters from her school friends! 

When she returned to school, she had a full escort from South County Fire and Tracy Police Department. 

Heather is now in high school and playing basketball again! She regularly speaks at schools about the importance of CPR education and access to AED devices. 

She also recently became a national ambassador for the American Heart Association and played a key role in new California legislation that requires schools to include emergency plans for sudden cardiac arrests. The new law is named after Heather — it’s called the Heather Freligh Act!