WASHINGTON 鈥� Basketball was Tairik Johnson鈥檚 life until his life almost ended.
Now, the 17-year-old Baltimore youth is looking for a new path. And he has the chance to do so thanks to nearly a dozen people who did the right things at just the right time to save his life.
鈥淚鈥檓 a believer in God,鈥� Johnson said. He refers to the events of March 31 as 鈥淕od putting his hand down and saying, 鈥業鈥檓 not going to take you right now.鈥欌��
That was the day that he collapsed in the middle of a game at Gwynn Park High School in Brandywine, Maryland.
He had gone into cardiac arrest due to a condition known as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, what happens if the heart muscle cells enlarge and cause the walls of the ventricle to thicken, which can block blood flow out of the ventricle. The American Heart Association said it was 鈥渁 common cause of sudden聽cardiac arrest聽in young people, including young athletes.鈥�
Johnson鈥檚 father, Jermaine, saw his son collapse. He immediately got to his side, recognized what was happening, and started CPR. Fairfax County, Virginia firefighter and medic Paul Beasley, who was in the stands, also came to help.
Meanwhile, 聽Linda Henson-Hubb, Gwynn Park’s athletic director, dashed to grab the school鈥檚 AED —聽automatic external defibrillator.
鈥淭he device was where it belonged,鈥� said Kenya Johnson, Tairik鈥檚 mother. 鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 locked away and somebody else had the key. It was a situation where everything fell in place.鈥�
鈥淔rom the time that my son lost his heartbeat to the time that he was resuscitated was under one minute,鈥� Kenya Johnson said.
On Friday, Tairik Johnson, his mother and his grandmother thanked Prince George鈥檚 County Fire and EMS, and called for more AEDs in more public places. Chief Marc Bashoor said the incident was a 鈥�100 percent success story.鈥�
鈥淭airik did survive 鈥� because of the folks sitting in front of us 鈥� and the decisions they make every day,鈥� Bashoor said.
Tairik Johnson said he鈥檚 considering new careers now that he knows he won鈥檛 be pursuing basketball.聽A junior at Baltimore鈥檚 St. Francis Academy, he聽was fielding basketball scholarship offers from at least seven Division 1 colleges.
鈥淚鈥檓 on to the next thing now,鈥� he said. 鈥淚鈥檓 looking to get into college on an academic scholarship.鈥�
But basketball may not be completely over. A couple of schools that were courting him are offering him scholarships to come aboard as the team manager. And his illness has inspired a new path.
鈥淚 think I want to major in radiology 鈥� become an X-Ray technician 鈥� and then one day, hopefully, create a foundation to raise awareness for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy,鈥� Tairik Johnson said.
