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“We literally won the lottery:” Clay County family shares life-saving message after son’s near death – Action News Jax

Posted on by angelo
“We literally won the lottery:” Clay County family shares life-saving message after son’s near death – Action News Jax

CLAY COUNTY, Fla. — It’s been nearly six months since Christian and Jennifer Broadhurst received one of the worst calls a parent can receive: Their 17-year-old son, Riley Broadhurst, suffered a cardiac arrest while jogging daily. A seemingly perfectly healthy teenager was suddenly at risk of death at any moment.

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“It was one of those things that I hope no parent ever has to experience.” It was horrible,” Christian Broadhurst said. “But we literally won the lottery. He survived, and he shouldn’t have survived.

Cardiac arrest is the leading cause of death among student-athletes, with the standard sports physical exam detecting only about 4% of underlying heart conditions.

On Saturday, the Broadhurst family, the Clay County Board of Commissioners and the nonprofit Who We Play For handed out free EKGs, a lifesaving five-minute test that helps detect heart problems early.

“It does an incredible job of detecting these underlying conditions that a regular physical exam wouldn’t detect,” Riley emphasized during Saturday’s event. “It’s so quick, five minutes to do it, and it can save your life.” This is a big step towards saving more children.

Dr. Justin Deaton, Clay County EMS Medical Director, also stressed to Action News Jax Saturday the importance of knowing basic EMS information for everyday citizens…it just might save the life of a child like Riley.

“Early defibrillation and CPR, which are things that can be performed by members of the community who have very little or no medical training, are imperative not only for their survival, but also for survival with, you know, all their brain functions and be able to live a normal life. , healthy living,” said Dr. Deaton.

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