A 16-year-old Creston High School student is at the Iowa Capitol today, lobbying for a bill that would require every Iowa school to have Cardiac Emergency Response Plan.
Last April Nate Bentley collapsed when his heart stopped during track meet in Glenwood. “I was running in the sprint medley relays and after I got done running, I suddenly collapsed on the track,” Bentley said.
Naomi Sharp, the Creston volleyball coach, was watching the race, jumped over a fence to get to Bentley and found he did not have a pulse. She started CPR. “I’d been trained, but I’d never given it before. Somebody was like, ‘What made you do it?'” said Sharp, who’s at the Capitol today, too. “I don’t know. Somebody needed help and I just ran and did it, but thank goodness I was in the right place at the right time and thank goodness they had an A.E.D. and they got there very quickly.”
It was the defibrallator that restarted Bentley’s heart. Bentley’s mom, Erin Wallace, said the track meet had been rescheduled and the timing conflicted with her work schedule. She’s “eternally thankful” for Sharp’s quick action, a nurse at the scene and the person who knew where the AED was in the school. “Because he’s still here, God’s got a big purpose for him and he’s got to share his story to save others,” Wallace said.
Wallace is also at the Capitol for the American Heart Association’s lobbying day. She said her son’s school district has purchased nearly two dozen defibrillators and placed them in every vehicle the Creston district owns. Bentley’s doctors have determined he has a rare genetic condition that caused his heart to stop and he now takes medication daily.