School nurse saves student from heart attack
A Bunbury teenager who collapsed at school after his heart stopped could owe his life to the quick reactions of a maths teacher and the skills of a school nurse.
Wyatt Hancock, 17, was in a stable condition in an induced coma at Fiona Stanley Hospital yesterday after he was flown by helicopter from Bunbury on Tuesday.
His father Bruce and mother Tania said they were “so grateful” to Bunbury Catholic College staff, especially school nurse Miranda McKee who performed CPR until an ambulance arrived.
Mr Hancock said Wyatt had gone to school as usual on Tuesday but collapsed without warning during a midmorning maths class.
“He suffered a severe heart attack and basically just dropped straight to the floor,” he said.
“There was no forewarning or precondition to this occurring — it was just completely out of the blue.”
Ambulance officers had to use a defibrillator to shock Wyatt several times.
Mr Hancock was in Perth at the time and rushed to Bunbury.
But soon after he arrived, Wyatt was flown to Perth and Mr Hancock had to drive back. He said it had been the worst 24 hours of their lives.
“It’s every parent’s worst nightmare, something like this,” Mr Hancock said.
“Normally we’re on the other side of the camera, empathising with the poor people in this condition, and now it’s us.
He said Ms McKee’s quick actions and calm demeanour had given Wyatt the best possible chance of recovery and urged others to learn how to do CPR to save lives.
“Those first few minutes of CPR are absolutely crucial to people surviving,” Mr Hancock said.
“Without her immediate actions, our son could either have not pulled through, or may have a far worse prognosis than what he has.
“It all comes down to knowing and applying CPR which we’re very thankful for to her — we owe her everything.”
The family do not know what caused Wyatt’s heart to stop.
Mr Hancock said doctors had told him Wyatt’s heart could have been weakened by a viral infection or his heart rhythm could have been interrupted by something electrical.
“The first sign that we’re going to get as to how well our son recovers is when they bring him out of the coma and we’ll really know to what degree he has suffered any brain damage,” he said.
