Houston fencer brought back to life after sudden cardiac arrest
HOUSTON - A fencer goes into sudden cardiac arrest in Houston during a match. It's all caught on video when he dies three different times within ten minutes.
The avid fencer didn't have any symptoms leading up to this, but everyone around him jumped into action and helped save his life.
It all went down on Nov. 17, 2020, at an Olympic training center in Houston. August Skopik says he felt great and was in the middle of a session, when he literally dropped dead from sudden cardiac arrest.
"You can actually see the video of what happened! The United States Fencing Association posted a video. And I had a 95% blockage, and I apparently died three times on the floor," states August.
The coaches had just completed training for a worst-case scenario like this, so they were prepared. They quickly jumped into action, administering nine minutes of quality CPR, until paramedics arrived. His cardiologist says the people there truly did save his life!
It was complicated because August was lying on a metal strip, which isn't conducive for treatment with a defibrillator.
"They couldn't do the defibrillator right away, because they realized that I'd be shocked, it would have shocked the system, and then it could shock the floor and maybe shock somebody else. So, they had to pull me over to the side to resuscitate me, but I don't remember any of that, I woke up in the hospital," explains August.
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Paramedics raced August to Memorial Hermann Memorial City's Cath Lab with Dr. Daniel Hermann, an interventional cardiologist, standing by.
"We went through the artery in his wrist to catheter right up there and found that he did have significant blockages in several of the arteries feeding his heart, and that's what had led to his heart muscle getting weak and this instability electrically in his heart," says Dr. Hermann.
The loving granddad got stents surgically placed in his heart, was administered medicines to help strengthen his heart muscle, and he got an implanted defibrillator to shock him back to normal rhythm, if this ever happens again.
"He realized that he wasn't feeling as well as he could have, but it was not until he had that corrected that he realized he was even having an issue before. It's kind of amazing," states Dr. Hermann.
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August says he was unaware of those life-threatening blockages, yet did have concern that his dad had a heart attack, near the same age, at 60.
"I was biking six to eight miles a day. I would train several days a week for fencing, but I'd also be training at home 20 minutes or so, doing lunges and things like that," says August.
Plus, he was winning a lot of fencing competitions and showed us the display cases of his beautiful medals and trophies in his home. August is beyond relieved that Dr. Hermann encourages him to continue his active lifestyle, even push himself in fencing.
August believes he was at the gym when this happened for a reason. He believes God put him in the right place at the right time to be saved, so he plans to make the very best of his life and do his best to never take it for granted.
For more information, https://www.memorialhermann.org/services/conditions/sudden-cardiac-arrest