A parent used CPR to save the life of a Mansfield ISD middle schooler after the student collapsed and stopped breathing during a basketball game late last year.
Nurse Kari McConnell sprang into action to help 14-year-old Cirye Carpenter, nicknamed Cici, who had fallen to the court during the game. The incident occurred just two weeks after McConnell helped treat Carpenter after a previous collapse. During both incidents, McConnell was just outside the gym with her daughter before being alerted.
According to McConnell, Carpenter was in much worse condition after the second collapse.
“When I got her down on the ground, I could not feel a pulse at all in her wrist. … Her face is slowly getting grayer and grayer to where I know she’s not breathing,” McConnell told NBC 5 DFW.
Despite having never performed CPR by herself, McConnell said she felt compelled by God to take action.
“I got up on my knees and I went to start doing a first compression, and Cici took a huge gasp of breath,” McConnell said.
Cici was swiftly taken to the hospital, where cardiologists discovered she had an anomalous aortic origin of the left coronary artery, a life-threatening heart condition that she had unknowingly carried since birth.
Cici is scheduled to undergo open heart surgery next week to help address the condition, and she hopes to return to basketball in the future, according to NBC 5.
A GoFundMe account has been set up to help cover Cici’s medical expenses.
In 2022, The Dallas Express reported on another incident involving a Texas student who collapsed on the basketball court. East Texas high school student Devonte Mumphrey similarly suffered a heart issue. Sadly, Mumphrey died from “unspecified blunt impact” caused by cardiac arrest during the game.
Sources:
- https://www.audacy.com/krld/news/local/nearby-parent-saves-student-athlete-in-mansfield
- https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/parent-saves-mansfield-isd-students-life-after-she-collapses-from-heart-condition-on-basketball-court/3450033/
- https://dallasexpress.com/sports/texas-high-school-basketball-player-dies-during-game/
