BOUNTIFUL, Utah (KUTV) – A nurse in Utah helped save a 17-year-old who experienced a sudden heart attack.
Brayden Urland did not expect to be in the hospital a day after his 17th birthday.
His father, James Urland, said Brayden Urland was hanging out with his friends when he had the heart attack.
“Grabbed his chest, fell down, got back up and fell down again, but hit his face on a brick wall and was out,” James Urland said.
At the same time, Chief Nursing Officer Tiffany Bears was heading home from work when she saw the group of friends.
“Saw a group of boys, and one of them on the ground, and I just had that nudge I needed to turn around,” she said.
So she got out of her car and helped Brayden Urland, who she said was not breathing when she stepped up.
“I turned him over and just started compressions,” Bears said. “I have a 16-year-old son, so it was a lot.”
Brayden Urland was diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a disease in which “the heart muscle becomes thickened” which can make it “harder the the heart to pump blood,” according to Mayo Clinic.
James Urland said he and his son love to fish and he was happy his son didn’t learn of his condition while somewhere deep in the mountains on a fishing trip.
He also has advice to give to other parents who may be worried about their children.
”If you don’t know CPR, sign up for a course,” he said.
Bears said getting the compressions going as soon as possible is what helps anyone experiencing a health emergency.
The Urlands are two people who are now grateful for Bears stepping in when she did with the medical knowledge she has.
“We’re all going through life right now, which is hard and difficult anywhere,” Bears said. “And if we can be a help to someone, stop and be that help.”
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