On Thursday, October 31, a 15-year-old sophomore, Devon Octave, was in wrestling practice and collapsed. Mater Lakes Academy coach Brandon Neifeld called 911 immediately and sent for administration.
The principal, Rene Rovirosa and security guard, Alexis Brunet began performing CPR on the student. When fire fighter paramedics arrived at the scene, he had stopped breathing and his pulse was lost.
He was clinically dead for seven minutes.
Devon had a full cardiac arrest and was transported by ambulance to Palmetto General Hospital and then was airlifted to Miami Children’s Hospital. After being on life support for several days Devon is alive and has an implanted defibrillator to prevent another cardiac arrest.
Mater Lakes Academy had just trained its staff 6 days before to become CPR certified. After missing school for two weeks, Devon returned to school on Monday, November 18.
Mater Lakes Academy is a Miami-Dade County Public Charter School, with students enrolled in sixth through twelfth grade. For more information, visit the school’s website at www.materlakes.org or contact the school at 305-512-3917.