'They saved her life': 13-year-old from Tracy survives heart attack

https://youtu.be/0h5Aw7O7Xvw?si=aWtZa0SyYkwt7dpI

It was a normal Friday morning inside a classroom at Art Freiler School in Tracy. Thirteen-year-old Heather Freligh was sitting at her desk taking a math test when, without warning, she suddenly collapsed.

McKenna Adamo (Classmate & Friend): "It was just so scary because she just fell out of her chair and no one knew what was going on. All of us were just praying and hoping for the best."

Brooks Jarosz (Reporter): Heather had stopped breathing, her lips began turning blue, and she was going into sudden cardiac arrest. Classmates immediately jumped into action. One of Heather's best friends frantically called 911.

Malyna Torres-Melton (Classmate & Friend): "I told the dispatcher we had a student that was passed out and that we needed help, and I told them the address."

Brooks Jarosz (Reporter): While emergency services were en route, school leadership stepped in. Principal Stephen Theall, who had recently completed CPR training, rushed to the classroom. Alongside responding Tracy Police Officer Alex Contreras, they immediately began performing life-saving CPR on the eighth grader.

First responders arrived moments later. Paramedics utilized an Automated External Defibrillator (AED), delivering four shocks to Heather's heart before her heartbeat was finally restored. She was quickly airlifted to the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) Children's Hospital.

Derek Freligh (Father): "I can't tell you how thankful we are as a family that everybody did their job that day. Your training kicked in, everybody kept their composure, and we had a miracle turnout. That doesn't always happen, and that means the world to us. Thank you so much."

Brooks Jarosz (Reporter): Heather’s father, an Alameda County Sheriff’s Deputy, knows firsthand how critical every single second is in an emergency. Doctors at the hospital operated on Heather to implant an Implantable Cardioverter-Defibrillator (ICD) to protect her heart in the future.

While it remains unclear exactly what caused the sudden cardiac arrest in the active, athletic teenager, her recovery has been called nothing short of a miracle. School officials and first responders are being widely praised for their rapid, calm response that ultimately saved the young girl's life.

Reporting in Tracy, Brooks Jarosz, KTVU FOX 2.