Athlete Gets a Second Chance at Life

Chicago - College athletes are not supposed to have to worry about going into cardiac arrest, but it happened to a 20-year-old from Chicago. 

On October 15, the first day of practice for the women’s basketball team, Elizabeth Pearlman from Chicago’s Edgewater neighborhood, collapsed.

“To stand here is moving, emotional, I’m so glad to be back,” Pearlman said, choking back tears.

Head athletic trainer Terry Smith walked over to see what was wrong.

“It maybe took me like 10 seconds to walk across the court to where she was and from that point on I couldn’t tell you the times, everything was moving very fast, it was, a very intense moment,” Smith said, holding back tears himself.

Smith yelled for someone to call 911, and for the coach to grab the AED, the portable defibrillator hanging on the wall just outside the gym.

But while he performed CPR, Pearlman's heart stopped. Not just once, but twice.

Because he had been trained to use the machine, Smith was able to get Pearlmans’ heart restarted in a matter of minutes, which doctors said prevented Pearlman from suffering any brain damage.

Pearlman walked back on the basketball court at Aurora University to a celebration of life Monday.

Richard Pearlman calls Smith his daughter's guardian angel, and the fact she was back on the court 10 days later, a miracle. He'll never forget the drive he and his wife Cathy had to make from Chicago to Aurora.

“I mean there was a period of time when we heard that she was down, one of the trainers called us and said we had to get to the hospital where we didn’t know if she was alive or dead,” Richard Pearlman said.

Elizabeth was rushed to Provena Mercy Hospital where doctors who treated her that night said she's one fortunate young woman. Fortunate that the defibrillator was close by, and that there were people there trained to use it.

For her to have been resuscitated, brought back to life, her heart restarted, is something that only happens in less than 10 percent of patients, said Dr. Basharat Muneer, one of the cardiologists who treated her in the emergency room.

Smith said while he has been trained to use the AED, he's never had to use it. Now he calls it the greatest invention ever.

Elizabeth Pearlman could not agree more and now is on a crusade to spread the word about the importance of portable defibrillators, and having people trained to use them.

She calls her second chance a blessing, a miracle, and a gift from God.