College softball player's heart stops after routine play

这是她今天的第二场比赛, Fordham University shortstop Sarah Taffet hit a ground ball to first base. 外野手向前冲去，把球停了下来，不停地去追莎拉. It turned into a small collision, with Sarah getting knocked to the ground.

萨拉说:“这让我有点害怕，但我以前被打得更狠。. “这不是肮脏的把戏."

21岁的她站了起来，开始向休息区慢跑，然后开始感到奇怪.

She realized her eyelids were closing. 她知道自己正在坠落. She wanted to scream but knew she couldn't.

“为什么我不能说话??她想. “为什么我不能呼吸??"

布丽吉特·沃德(Bridget 病房)在教练席上看着萨拉，从她的表情可以看出有些不对劲. 病房, the assistant athletic trainer, had already started jogging onto the field when Sarah collapsed. 她突然开始全速冲刺.

沃德是第一个到达现场的人，当时萨拉正在离本垒几英尺远的地方癫痫发作. 另外两名医疗专业人士——一名投手的父亲和一名助理教练的父亲——也赶到了现场. Then two more medical personnel at the park that day showed up.

病房 knew Sarah didn't have a seizure disorder, 所以她稳定了莎拉的气道，为了安全起见，她要求使用自动体外除颤器. An AED is a portable electronic device that analyzes the heart rhythm and, 如果需要, can deliver a shock to try restoring a normal rhythm.

两位父亲——一位是医生助理，一位是麻醉师——注意到莎拉停止了呼吸，于是开始进行胸部按压. The AED arrived and 病房 placed the pads on Sarah's chest. The AED determines whether it might be of help and announces its conclusion.

"It advised shock,沃德说. "I think my heart dropped into my feet."

Now anxious, 病房 called out, "Clear!" so that everyone backed away from Sarah. 病房 hit the button and the AED shocked Sarah's heart. 按压恢复. After almost 30 seconds, the AED advised no second shock was needed.

Sarah regained a normal heart rhythm. She was again breathing on her own.

The scene last October was a frightening three minutes for everyone.

“10个月后, and I still can't tell this story without crying,她父亲说, 保罗Taffet. "Not seeing her moving from a softball game, it was crazy!"

He remembers the moment in sharp details – someone saying, "I have no pulse!" Then the sound of the defibrillator telling the caregivers what to do. “没有人恐慌，每个人都在做他们必须做的事情，”他回忆说.

这场比赛是在新泽西州纽瓦克的一个公园举行的休赛期锦标赛的一部分. 病房 normally wouldn't be there, 但工作人员同意她去，因为没有其他医疗监督. 沃德开着自己的车去了那里，并让球员们把她的运动教练的装备搬到教练席上.

Sarah waited for someone else to grab a red bag. 当没有人这样做的时候, she hauled it to the field herself, wondering what on earth could be inside that was so important.

当然是AED.

她说:“原来那个包救了我的命，所以我想一切都是有原因的。.

An ambulance took Sarah to a local hospital. A series of tests over two days couldn't explain why her heart stopped. Doctors surmised it was probably commotio cordis, or a cardiac arrest caused by a blunt impact to the chest.

她回到了纽约布朗克斯区的学校，但没有获准打垒球. The team doctor had Sarah follow up with a cardiologist. 心电图、心脏负荷测试和核磁共振成像都无法解释她心脏停止跳动的原因. 医生还是不满意，于是又安排了最后一次检查:冠状动脉CT扫描.

Doctors discovered Sarah was born with a misplaced left coronary artery. 它被称为ALCAPA，即肺动脉左冠状动脉异常. 心脏得不到足够的血液和氧气，因为左冠状动脉异常地从肺动脉而不是从富含氧气的主动脉产生.

Sarah needed open-heart surgery. It took a surgical team five hours to repair the congenital defect.

三个月后，萨拉回到了她从5岁起就开始玩的这项运动. 她帮助福特汉姆赢得了大西洋联盟的冠军，并进入了NCAA地区赛.

"She only had to miss a couple of games in our spring season,沃德说. "We have ankle sprains that last longer."

今年5月毕业的萨拉正在攻读媒体管理硕士学位. 由于COVID-19，她在垒球生涯中还有一个赛季的资格. While she is unsure of her future career plans, she is certain of one thing.

"I want to get involved in AED awareness, 心肺复苏的意识, and just really make sure people know how, even if it literally saves one life,她说.

病房, who seems to spot more AEDs when she's out and about now, said everyone was where they needed to be that day.

“我们很高兴发生在莎拉身上的一切都发生在垒球场上，而不是独自走在街上或独自呆在公寓里,沃德说.

Said Sarah: "This is going to sound so corny, but it's true. Everything that comes my way, I'm just so grateful. 我真的很幸运能来到这里."

发自内心的故事 记录心脏病和中风幸存者、护理人员和倡导者的鼓舞人心的旅程.

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