16 year old saved with school AED - 08/18/2021 6:20 AM
Click here to watch TV coverage of this event - here is the report
This is a Project ADAM program out of Vanderbilt Click here for Project ADAM - TN information
There's something about Jonathan Edwards Classical Academy in Whites Creek that makes mom Laura Potteiger feel her family will always be cared for here.
"The longevity we've built being here since 2012 makes it a very tight community for us," she said.
That community was never more important to her than on a day in October 2016. Her husband Kelley Frost and son Taylor were in a car crash on I-24. Laura's son survived the crash. Her husband was killed.
"We felt the love of this community then," said Laura. "My children and I were carried along by their love at that point."
More hard times were coming.
A few weeks ago, Taylor, now 16, was practicing for cross country after school when he began to feel lightheaded. He stumbled over a speed bump. His vision went out of focus. He blacked out. Taylor had gone into cardiac arrest.
"At that moment, I didn't know if Taylor was going to be alive when I arrived on this scene," said Laura. "I have arrived before and someone not be alive, and that's a really scary, difficult tragedy."
Karen Gosnell at Jonathan Edwards Classical Academy said the staff had just gone through Vanderbilt's training on automated external defibrillators, AEDs.
"The staff members pressed the button and shocked him, and his heart went from shaking back to pumping as it should," she said.
With that, Taylor was back.
"It shocked me, and I woke up," said Taylor. "It makes me feel better that people were prepared. I didn't know it was possible at my age to have a cardiac arrest."
Laura hopes every parent can find a community ready to protect their children just as she has.
"This is a healthy kid," said Laura. "We never saw this coming. Be prepared. Be equipped, so that when there's an emergency, you're ready to answer it."
The school staff got their training from what's called Project ADAM Middle Tennessee out of Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt. They do training at no cost to schools, churches, and communities to get people prepared for cardiac emergencies.
"It might take an ambulance anywhere from 5 to 10 minutes or longer to arrive at the scene," said Angel Carter of Project ADAM Middle Tennessee. "If there's no one giving care, that person really doesn't have a chance of surviving."
This is a Project ADAM program out of Vanderbilt Click here for Project ADAM - TN information
There's something about Jonathan Edwards Classical Academy in Whites Creek that makes mom Laura Potteiger feel her family will always be cared for here.
"The longevity we've built being here since 2012 makes it a very tight community for us," she said.
That community was never more important to her than on a day in October 2016. Her husband Kelley Frost and son Taylor were in a car crash on I-24. Laura's son survived the crash. Her husband was killed.
"We felt the love of this community then," said Laura. "My children and I were carried along by their love at that point."
More hard times were coming.
A few weeks ago, Taylor, now 16, was practicing for cross country after school when he began to feel lightheaded. He stumbled over a speed bump. His vision went out of focus. He blacked out. Taylor had gone into cardiac arrest.
"At that moment, I didn't know if Taylor was going to be alive when I arrived on this scene," said Laura. "I have arrived before and someone not be alive, and that's a really scary, difficult tragedy."
Karen Gosnell at Jonathan Edwards Classical Academy said the staff had just gone through Vanderbilt's training on automated external defibrillators, AEDs.
"The staff members pressed the button and shocked him, and his heart went from shaking back to pumping as it should," she said.
With that, Taylor was back.
"It shocked me, and I woke up," said Taylor. "It makes me feel better that people were prepared. I didn't know it was possible at my age to have a cardiac arrest."
Laura hopes every parent can find a community ready to protect their children just as she has.
"This is a healthy kid," said Laura. "We never saw this coming. Be prepared. Be equipped, so that when there's an emergency, you're ready to answer it."
The school staff got their training from what's called Project ADAM Middle Tennessee out of Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt. They do training at no cost to schools, churches, and communities to get people prepared for cardiac emergencies.
"It might take an ambulance anywhere from 5 to 10 minutes or longer to arrive at the scene," said Angel Carter of Project ADAM Middle Tennessee. "If there's no one giving care, that person really doesn't have a chance of surviving."