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[October 2017] FCIAC supports St. Joe’s Lewis: Player comes back after cardiac arrest

Isabella Bullock ’19

More than 350,000 Americans suffer from cardiac arrest every year, and almost 90 percent of these cases result in death, according to CPR Facts and Stats. Laci Lewis of St. Joseph High School, was of the 10 percent who survived.

Lewis is a member of the St. Joseph girls’ soccer team and plays premier soccer for the Connecticut Football Club, informally known as CFC. On July 12 she was one of three freshmen invited to play at an academy practice at a CFC arena.
“The practice was going really well and, out of nowhere, I fell,” Lewis said.

Sierra Clark, one of Lewis’ team members at St. Joseph High School, said Lewis “collapsed and her teammates thought it was a heatstroke.” Those on the field did not realize until much later that Lewis had actually gone into cardiac arrest.

“Her heart stopped for 15 minutes, and her coach gave her CPR on the field,” Ashley Wright ’19, who played in the game, said.
“I was actually at the practice so it was pretty devastating to see,” Reese Sutter ’20, a CFC teammate of Lewis, said about the incident.

Staples athletic trainer Gaetana Deiso wasn’t on the field for the incident but knows exactly what to do in this kind of situation. “The response time is crucial in saving someone’s life,” Deiso said. “It’s always great to have people who know and are trained to do CPR.”

Lewis was given CPR as soon as possible, and after being shocked three times, was rushed to the hospital where she was put into a medically-induced coma to reduce the swelling to her brain.

She woke up from her coma after 24 hours, which was earlier than expected, but had trouble remembering what happened to her.

Lewis had open heart surgery on Aug. 23, and though she cannot yet play on the team, she is “cleared to run and do ball work, just no contact or lifting,” Lewis said.

Her friends, family and those who know her sold bracelets with #lacistrong and #cprsaveslives on them. The entire CFC team bought many bracelets, with many of those members being Staples students, and the team even took it upon themselves to sell the bracelets at school. They then donated to the Yale EMT’s and Cardiology unit, to help others who also have suffered from cardiac arrest.

On Oct. 24, the girls’ soccer team played against Saint Joseph High School and, although Lewis wasn’t on the field, she cheered from the sidelines.

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