'A literal miracle': 16-year-old comes back to life two hours after 'dying’ at top of rock climbing wall
MISSOURI CITY, TEXAS: A 16-year-old Texas boy who suffered cardiac arrest at the top of a rock climbing wall was miraculously revived just two hours after he was pronounced dead by doctors. Sammy Berko, from the Houston suburb of Missouri City, was climbing to the top of the wall when his body went limp and he passed out.
“His body went limp, and it looked like he was either playing around or passed out. They weren't quite sure and when they realized he was unresponsive, they lowered him slowly," Jennifer Berko, Sammy's mother, told Fox 26. Paramedics and doctors immediately rushed to Sammy’s rescue and performed CPR for two hours before declaring he was "gone." A helpless Jennifer sat next to her son and started praying when her husband Craig noticed something unexpected. "I started talking to him, just telling him how much I love him and sorry that we didn't know how to save him. Suddenly, as I started praying, my husband said, 'Oh my gosh, he's moving,'" Jennifer exclaimed.
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‘Never seen anything like this’
The couple called for the medical staff, who rushed back in and claimed that "they have never seen anything like this before." Seeing Sammy coming back to life left Jennifer and Craig speechless. "That feeling of seeing his heartbeat, there are no words for that. There are no words. We just stood there," Jennifer said. Medical staff feared that Sammy would suffer a severe brain injury after his brain went so long without oxygen but he only suffered from short-term memory loss, apart from some physical injury, according to The Sun.
"I don't remember anything about the day it happened. The last thing I remember is the night before we had to sign waivers online (for the rock climbing gym), and then I woke up, not even in the pediatric ICU," Sammy told Fox 26. "I woke up in the transitional ICU and that's the first thing I remember. Then I remember my dad telling me, this is what happened and you better remember this time because he said it so many times."
‘It's very unusual’
After spending a month in the hospital, Sammy is currently working to recover strength in his legs and is undergoing physical therapy for the ischemic spine injury. Sammy has been attending inpatient therapy at TIRR Memorial Hermann under the supervision of Dr Stacey Hall for the past two months. "I was very struck by his story. It's very gripping and very unusual. That only young man you know, who had this Catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia (CPVT), which is a super rare genetic disorder that affects his heart," Dr Hall said. She also described Sammy as a "literal miracle" who survived without a "severe global anoxic brain injury."
The incident also brought out a previous tragedy where the Berko family lost their son Frankie due to what they now know to be the identical genetic abnormality that nearly killed Sammy. The teen and his mother underwent some tests following the rock climbing tragedy and they are now taking medication to help prevent any future issues.