Wilsonville Teen Graduates Just Days After Collapsing, Almost Dying

WILSONVILLE, OR — Jair Gamez-Carrasco walked across the stage at Rolling Hills Community Church in Wilsonville Thursday and received his high school diploma.

Ten days earlier, people weren't sure he would live to see the day.

On May 31, Gamez-Carrasco, 18, a Wilsonville High School senior, was playing kickball on the baseball field when things took a turn. He went into cardiac arrest.

"I just remember standing at first base, and then I collapsed," Gamez-Carrasco told reporters at a news conference outside of his school Tuesday. He was joined by his mother, Maria Gamez, and Clackamas County sheriff's Deputy Zach Keirsey, who is the school's resource officer and was one of the people who helped save Gamez-Carrasco's life.

When Gamez-Carrasco collapsed, Keirsey grabbed the school's automated external defibrillator and ran outside. Within moments they had his heart going, an ambulance arrived and Gamez-Carrasco was being sped to a local hospital.

Keirsey wasn't the only one who helped. Lance Entzel, who works in maintenance at the school; Laura Beko, a teacher; and nurse Mary Groh all ran over and started CPR while they waited for Keirsey.

"They saved my life," Gamez-Carrasco said. "They said if it had been a couple minutes later, I would have had brain damage, or I would have died. I was really grateful for them."

Meanwhile, Maria Gamez was at their house in Wilsonville having a normal day — she had been texting with her son just 20 minutes before — when she got the call no parent wants.

"I got a phone call saying that my son collapsed, and he didn't have a pulse, and he wasn't breathing," Maria Gamez said. "That, and I needed to stay on the phone with them. At that moment, I just dropped my phone."

Assured that her son was breathing, she rushed to the hospital where doctors said that he had gone into cardiac arrest, that it could happen again and that he needed a pacemaker.

He went into surgery soon after.

Maria Gamez is thankful at how quickly the school employees reacted. And she added that she's not the only one.

"The cardiologists were impressed with how fast the school and police officers acted because there was no time," she said. The doctors told her that if her son's care had come even three minutes later, he could have died.

"They went above and beyond to save my son’s life," Maria Gamez said. "It was amazing, and we’re just so grateful for everyone that responded."

In the hospital, Gamez-Carrasco said that he was grateful but also wanted to make it to graduation.

"I was asking the doctors when I would be released because I really wanted to be here and graduate,” he said Tuesday.

He was released on June 8, a day before the ceremony.

The next step for Gamez-Carrasco is trade school, where he will study to become an electrician, Maria Gamez said.

"Just seeing him walking that stage, I will never be able to explain this great feeling," she said. "It's just amazing. I can already notice a difference in him. It's almost like he has a new outlook on life."