An 18-year-old tennis player from Rochester, Indiana suffered cardiac arrest right after he finished warm-up laps at practice.
Drew Strasser had just finished his warm-up laps “when he lurched toward the wall to brace himself before slumping down, unconscious.”
“His teammate and friend Jake jumped into action performing CPR on him while a coach, Jesse Atkinson, rushed to get an automated external defibrillator (AED) to jolt his heart,” TODAY reported.
Their quick action likely saved the teen’s life.
A tennis player Drew Strasser 18 yrs old from Rochester, Indiana, suffered a cardiac arrest right after he finished his warm-up laps. A friend and teammate, rushed to his aid and began CPR as coach Jesse Atkinson went to grab an automated external defibrillator & saved his life. pic.twitter.com/jkMYL2ZLvl
— Lisa Marie (@Lisamarie1577) October 22, 2022
“Drew Strasser, 18, had just finished his warm-up laps at tennis practice when he lurched toward the wall to brace himself before slumping down, unconscious.”
A high schooler went into sudden cardiac arrest. His teammate and coach saved him https://t.co/51Q9uEcriJ
— Starchild2020 (@starchild20202) October 21, 2022
“I never would have thought it would be my kid,” Laneia Strasser, 38, of Rochester, Indiana, told TODAY.
“His friend, his 18-year-old teammate who works as a lifeguard — luckily he handled the situation right. Nobody knows how you’re going to react to a situation like that, and he did what he needed to do.”
TODAY reported:
On Aug. 5, Drew Strasser woke early and left the house at 5:30 a.m. to attend tennis practice. He drove himself to the school and started running warm-up laps in the gym when he suddenly collapsed. Immediately, Jake started CPR while Atkinson rushed for the AED to assist while someone called 911. That day the team happened to be in the gym at the school, a lucky turn of events as there was no AED on the tennis courts.
“It wouldn’t have been as likely that they could have saved his life with the AED had he not be inside the school in close proximity to it,” Laneia Strasser said.
The ambulance took him to a hospital about an hour north, and doctors worked to stabilize him. When the Strassers, who were still at home before work, received the call, they weren’t sure what to think.
“(The police officer) didn’t really say that they thought it was an issue with Drew’s heart,” Laneia Strasser said. “He just said, ‘Drew fell at practice. He’s unconscious. He wasn’t breathing.’”
His parents wondered if Drew Strasser experienced a seizure, so his mom called the principal to try to find out more information. The EMT thought it might’ve been a heart attack. Once the Strassers got to the hospital, they received a little more information.
“They told us, ‘No he didn’t have a heart attack. It was that he was in sudden cardiac arrest,” Laneia Strasser said. “It was very traumatic. Scary, scary, scary morning.”
(“Sudden cardiac arrest” is defined as the “abrupt lost of heart function, breathing and consciousness” whereas a heart attack is when “blood flow to a part of the heart is blocked,” according to Mayo Clinic. A heart attack may trigger sudden cardiac arrest.)
His parents couldn’t believe what was happening. Drew Strasser always participated in sports and never had any health problems. Just three weeks earlier, he’d visited his doctor for a physical, and nothing abnormal with his heart was detected.
“We were just shocked. It didn’t seem real. He’s never had any passing-out moments before,” Laneia Strasser said. “He’s never had any signs of heart issues. It just completely came out of the blue.”
After doctors at the nearby hospital stabilized the teen, he was transferred to Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis, where doctors tried to figure out why his heart wasn’t working properly. Seeing him in the cardiac intensive care unit on a ventilator with no explanation for he went into cardiac arrest was already tough for Drew Strasser’s parents. But then, he became seriously ill.
“By Sunday, he had developed a lung infection, and he took a turn for the worse,” Laneia Strasser said. “His blood pressure kept dropping really low. They (gave) him really strong antibiotics.”
Drew Strasser eventually stabilized, and doctors weaned him off the ventilator. Leneia and Andy Strasser felt some relief when he could talk with them.
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