AED Revives Carrollton Teen Who Collapsed at School

A seventh grader from Carrollton is recovering after she went into cardiac arrest and collapsed during volleyball practice, and the fast actions by her coaches helped save her life.

“One of the last things I remember is hearing breathing in my ear and looking over at my friend and that’s it,” Amanda Marquez said.

As she lay lifeless on the gym floor, her family says three coaches and the principal at Creek Valley Middle School sprang into action, doing CPR, dialing 911 and using an automated external defibrillator – or AED – to jump start her heart.

“It’s hard, real hard. We’re just so grateful for the coaches, the right people were in the right place at the right time,” said Amanda’s mother, Jan Marquez.

A law passed in 2007 requires every public school in Texas to have an AED on campus.

It also requires coaches to know how to use them in case of emergencies like the one at Creek Valley Middle School.

After three days in the hospital, Amanda returned home. She will have a defibrillator and pacemaker implant for the rest of her life.

Her parents say doctors don’t know why it happened.