A Texas teen suffered a cardiac arrest at a rock climbing gym and died – but miraculously two hours later he was revived after continuous CPR.
Sammy Berko, 16, was hailed as a ‘literal miracle’ by one of his doctors after suffering the heat attack in January.
His parents Jennifer and Craig Berko watched as Sammy rang a bell to signal his distress, but they initially believed he was just fooling around.
It quickly became clear Sammy was in trouble, with gym workers, paramedics and doctors performing two hours of CPR in a bid to revive him.
Jennifer and Craig – whose other son Frankie died aged just 16 three years ago – were distraught on being told that Sammy could not be revived, and had been pronounced dead.
Sammy Berko, 16, went into cardiac arrest after going rock climbing. Two hours of CPR from a team of gym staffers, paramedics and doctors helped bring him back to life
Sammy Berko (pictured) uses a walker as he learns how to walk again after suffering from ischemic spine injury during cardiac arrest
A family photo of the Berko family before Frankie, their oldest son, Frankie, died (pictured far right)
Sammy is pictured with mom Jennifer, who grew emotional on recalling the moment she believed her son had died, as well as his father Craig
Amazingly though, Sammy came around as his stricken parents began saying their final goodbyes.
‘They looked at us and said, “He’s gone.” I started talking to him, just telling him how much I love him and sorry that we didn’t know how to save him,’ Jennifer told Fox26.
‘Suddenly, as I started praying, my husband said, ‘oh my gosh, he’s moving.’
She told the news outlet that when the couple began yelling ‘He’s alive’ the medical team raced back.
Jennifer said that everyone was in disbelief saying, ‘never had they ever pronounced somebody and suddenly they came back five minutes later.’
‘These are professionals who have been doing this their entire lives, who have seen the worst of the worst. Each and every one of them afterward came to us and said that they have never seen anything like this before. Ever,’ she said.
‘That feeling of seeing his heartbeat, there are no words for that. There are no words We just stood there. I mean, grateful is the biggest understatement ever to know that he might make it.’
‘I don’t remember anything about the day it happened. The last thing I remember is the night before we had to sign waivers online (for the rock climbing gym), and then I woke up,’ he said
A musician, he is also playing his guitar to help him heal
Despite the ordeal he’d endured, Sammy escaped with very minor brain damage, which manifested itself as short-term memory loss.
He also suffered a spinal injury which caused him to lose feeling in his legs, and is now receiving physiotherapy to help him walk again.
Sammy’s survival led to the discovery of a genetic heart condition called Catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia (CPVT) that was passed on from his mom.
It has since emerged that the same issue killed Frankie, who died after suffering an epileptic seizure while driving, with his passing initially described as the result of sudden adult death syndrome.
Sammy and his mom both have the condition, and are now on meds to try and prevent it from harming them again.
Sammy said: ‘I don’t remember anything about the day it happened. The last thing I remember is the night before we had to sign waivers online (for the rock climbing gym), and then I woke up,’ he said.
‘Then I remember my dad telling me, ‘This is what happened and you better remember this time, because he said it so many times,” Sammy told Fox 26.
A musician, he is also playing his guitar to help him heal.
Sammy’s doctor Dr. Stacey Hall, of TIRR Memorial in Houston, was awe-struck by his story calling it ‘very gripping …very unusual.’
‘He has a super rare genetic disorder that affects your heart,’ she said. ‘He is a literal miracle.’
