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Cheerleader gets heart implant
youngstown
An Ursuline High School varsity cheerleader who collapsed at the start of a home basketball game Dec. 9 had suffered sudden cardiac arrest, her family revealed Thursday.
Lauren Petro, 16, a junior, intends to return to school in January, according to a statement her family released through the school.
A team of pediatric cardiologists at Akron Children’s Hospital in Akron implanted a device called an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator, or ICD, to prevent another episode of sudden cardiac arrest, the statement continues.
It adds that the family intends to have no further public comment.
An ICD is a small device that’s placed in the chest or abdomen. It uses electrical pulses or shocks to help control life-threatening arrhythmias, especially those that can cause sudden cardiac arrest, according to information from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.
Lauren collapsed just as the starting varsity lineup was being announced. Two school nurses worked to revive her while paramedics were en route, and she was taken to St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital where she was stabilized before being transferred to Akron.
The basketball game, with Massillon Perry, was postponed and the gym emptied out.
The school community was stunned, with many from Ursuline gathering in the waiting room at St. Elizabeth.
“Everyone at Ursuline believes Lauren’s case to be a true Christmas miracle,” said the Rev. Richard Murphy, the school’s president, on Thursday.
“Much of our lives are lived in the hope of something wonderful and sometimes miraculous, and in this case, that actually occurred, and we are deeply grateful to God and to all the angels God used that day,” he continued.
“One of the nurses who worked on Lauren told me: ‘We had a victory over death on Dec. 9,’” the Rev. Mr. Murphy said. “And those victories are hard-won, and not often seen, and we are deeply grateful.”