Bayonne High School student welcomed home after collapsing in class from irregular heartbeat
BAYONNE, New Jersey (WABC) -- Welcoming home celebration was held for a 15-year-old student from New Jersey who is alive thanks to a couple heroes who saved him after he collapsed during class due to an irregular heartbeat.
Fifteen-year-old Bayonne High School student Jaeden Gibbs returned home Thursday, 10 days after he collapsed and went unconscious in class.
He says he doesn't remember anything, but all those who helped save his life remember very well.
School security got to him in less than a minute.
"Found that he wasn't breathing, no pulse and we did what we were trained to do," Bayonne High School security guard Mike Hurley said.
"Immediately we went right to shock mode, ended up shocking him," Bayonne High School security guard Tim Carey said.
Medics were not far behind.
"Took over the rescue, shocked him again, continued with CPR, we had a pulse by the time we got him in the ambulance," said Michael McCabe, Chief of EMS.
Gibbs' father Arthur Gibbs said he was at work 51 miles away when he got the call about his son.
"You have no clue. It's the worst call you can get that your son is going through this," he said.
His son had gone into Ventricular fibrillation (V-fib).
"He had to have a defibrillator implanted in him with surgery, now if it happens again it will shock him and bring him back," Jaeden's mother Carmen Gibbs said.
The welcome home celebration for Jaeden Gibbs almost left him speechless, just knowing his school and his town were pulling for him.
"This is really a celebration, this is a celebration of life and we are happy to be a part of it," Bayonne High School Principal Keith Makowski said.
"I have a son who's a junior at Bayonne High School, even he came home and was nervous about what happened, but today we're welcoming him back, thank God, and it's a great day for everyone," Bayonne Mayor Jimmy Davis said.
Most importantly, the Gibbs family got their son back. He will be back in school very soon.
"I thank God for each and every one of you and my boy is back. It's incredible, as a parent you want to protect your kid but there's nothing you can do," Arthur Gibbs said.
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