SEVENTEEN-year-old Austin Blight has no memory of the moment his life was nearly taken while training at a Rosebud gym. The Padua College year 12 student had been lifting weights at Yawa Aquatic Centre in July when, “out of the blue”, he suffered a heart attack and collapsed. Staff members immediately stepped in and began CPR before using a defibrillator to deliver two life-saving electric shocks needed to restore Austin’s heartbeat, before paramedics arrived. He was taken to Frankston Hospital where he was kept in ICU for 24 hours, most of which time he relied on a ventilator to help him breathe.
“I was just so shocked,” Austin said, speaking publicly for the first time of the traumatic incident. “It’s been a couple of months since it all happened and I’m starting to appreciate that I’m actually here.” Austin spent about two and half weeks in hospital before being transferred to the Victorian Heart Hospital in Clayton for a further two weeks. It was there that doctors were unable to tell him why he suffered a cardiac arrest, but to be sure, they fitted a subcutaneous implantable cardioverter defibrillator under the skin of his chest. This will monitor his heart rhythms and report if his heart becomes arrhythmic again.
After having “no answers” from tests to confirm a diagnosis, the family’s next avenue will be through genetic testing to check whether an inherited heart condition may have contributed. Austin otherwise has no history of heart problems and had been going to the gym on and off for about a year before his brush with death.
The episode has left his family shaken with Austin’s mum Alicia Baker saying doctors “were just as shocked as we were”. “We had no warning at all prior to this … it came completely out of the blue,” she told The News. “Austin’s such an incredibly resilient kid. He has really picked himself up and he’s just really kept on going with his goals. “He’s doing an incredible job considering what’s happened.”
Austin, who has no recollection of the incident except for waking up in hospital, said he was forever grateful to the quick-thinking actions of staff at Yawa whom he thanked in person after returning to the aquatic centre in August. “They did an incredible job considering that I think this was the first time they’ve actually had to put that entire plan into action,” Austin said.
Yawa’s venue manager Dan Andrews said his team’s “calm demeanour, clear and effective communication was key,” to keeping Austin alive. He said staff, who evacuated the gym floor, used a radio system that played a crucial role in the swift response, which meant they knew the exact location of the incident, reducing any delay. “While a confronting scenario, this team deserves recognition for their preparation and responsiveness in emergencies – I’m extremely proud of their efforts.”
Ambulance Victoria commended the team’s early intervention, saying it “undoubtedly saved Austin’s life”. Austin has been enjoying school holidays and back playing his beloved drums at his Capel Sound home. He said he has hopes of undertaking an electrical apprenticeship when he finishes school. “He’s a massive inspiration to all of us,” Alicia said.
Ambulance Victoria has launched “Shocktober”, a month-long cardiac arrest awareness campaign in October, to highlight the importance of learning CPR and how to use an automated external defibrillator.
First published in the Mornington News – 8 October 2024
