Teenager Rory is recovering after suffering a cardiac arrest while playing basketball. Photo: Michael Pittman.
Rory Pittman probably thought the afternoon of 29 July would only be remembered for being his first social basketball game.
But just after half-time, the 16-year-old would collapse.
“I remember the start of the day. I went to school, my friend’s house and waited to go to the stadium,” he told Region.
“From there, my memory’s gone. I don’t remember the period of the game [until] two or three hours after it.”
He wouldn’t know it at the time, but some off-duty nurses in the crowd assessed him and started doing CPR when they realised he wasn’t breathing.
Ultimately, an automated external defibrillator (AED) was used to shock his heart into a normal rhythm.
Dad Michael arrived at the basketball stadium along with Rory’s mum, Abigail, just as paramedics were stabilising him.
“I got a phone call from a mum of one of Rory’s friends, and she said there’d been an incident involving Rory and an ambulance had been called,” Michael said.
“It was almost like he was drunk – he was asking what time it was and what day of the week it was.”
Abigail rode in the ambulance, while Michael went home and checked on Rory’s sibling before joining her at the hospital.
He would ultimately spend more than three weeks hospitalised in Canberra and Sydney.
While at Westmead Children’s Hospital, he would be fitted with an Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator to protect him against future cardiac arrests.
“The device is like a safety net, but it also does preventative stuff too, and monitoring,” Michael said.
“We frequently get questions from people, including family and friends. … There’s no underlying issue that has been identified.
“It really does seem to be this phenomenon of sudden cardiac arrest … From all accounts, it wasn’t a particularly strenuous part of the game, and he wasn’t under strong fatigue or exertion.”
Rory in hospital, holding the AED (Automated External Defibrillator) that saved his life. Photo: Michael Pittman.
Rory, who said he didn’t “have a great idea” about cardiac issues before his incident, has started a campaign to install AEDs around town and to promote awareness about them.
According to statistics from the Heart Foundation, when CPR is performed and an AED is used within the first three to five minutes of a cardiac arrest, survival rates can increase up to 60 to 70 per cent.
Each AED costs around $3000.
One has already been installed within the Karabar Shopping Mall, and he’s currently raising money to cover at least one more, to be placed in Jerrabomberra.
“A lot of it comes down to seeing the numbers and the statistics and how lucky and unlikely it is to survive such an adverse event,” he said when asked why he started it.
“If I can raise the chances of anyone living through something like that, I definitely want to contribute … I’m not very concerned with wherever it goes.
“I think it’s a great addition and it can save a life anywhere.”
The Pittman family is settling back into life after what Michael calls “two months of disruption” while his son recovered.
Rory is back in school and working shifts at his part-time job. He’s also stepped back onto the basketball court.
(He’ll just need to wait a few more months until he’s cleared to drive again.)
But Michael acknowledged the family is aware that it isn’t the outcome for everyone.
“We feel incredibly lucky to still have our son, but ideally, you’d want to reduce the luck aspect of the whole situation.
“We want it to be less about luck – and more about preparedness.”
People can donate to Rory’s campaign through the Street Beat platform.
