FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — It has been about a month since a 13-year-old boy collapsed while playing basketball at the YMCA in Fort Lauderdale. Two mothers, who are a surgeon and a nurse, saved his life.
Dr. Ayisha Livingstone and Nadege Blanc were at the L.A. Lee YMCA Mizell Community Center to watch their kids play on July 16, and both quickly jumped into action.
For a moment, Blanc, a Memorial Healthcare System nurse, feared David Dieurestil, who suffered a cardiac arrest, was dead.
“Right, before our eyes, David, he went, he left,” Blanc said.
Livingstone, a Broward Health surgeon, and Blanc performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation and used the community center’s Automated External Defibrillator, a device that delivers a dose of electric current to the heart.
“I just woke up and I was on the ground,” David said.
Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue personnel responded to the community center and took David to the hospital where both Livingstone and Blanc continued to check on him.
“God bless them for what they did for me and my family,” David said.
The YMCA, Broward Health, the Memorial Healthcare System, and the FLFR teamed up for an event on Monday, so the three could raise awareness about the importance of CPR and AED training.
“I am so glad that he is not a statistic,” Blanc said while standing on stage.
During the ceremony, FLFR Chief Stephen W. Gollan presented David with a “rebirth” certificate dated July 16, the day he survived the cardiac arrest. David said he dreams of playing basketball next summer and professionally one day.
“Without them, my son wouldn’t be here, so I thank them so much” Michael Dieurestil, David’s father, said.
For more information about CPR and AED training for the public, visit this American Red Cross page.
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