A Central State University campus police officer responded quickly to a potentially tragic situation after a student collapsed due to a rare heart condition.
CSU Officer Jeananna Diaz is being called a hero for her life-saving actions performing CPR on a student who suffered a cardiac arrest on campus. Diaz was in the middle of a monthly fire drill at Greene and Anderson Residential Halls when she encountered a student lying on the ground and moving as if experiencing a seizure.
Diaz responded immediately by running to the student and checking his pulse. She realized that the student, Josh Gartley, had lost consciousness and was pulseless.
Diaz immediately began performing chest compressions and rescue breaths until paramedics arrived. Just as paramedics came on the scene, Gartley began to breathe and a faint pulse developed.
The student was then transported to nearby Miami Valley Hospital, where he was diagnosed with a rare genetic heart condition, Long QT Syndrome, which impairs the heart’s electric conduction system and can lead to a chaotic and potentially deadly heart rhythm. The condition affects around 1 in every 5,000 people in the United States.
Later, a Miami Valley Hospital cardiologist said that Diaz was responsible for saving Gartley’s life.
“Since becoming a police officer, I’ve always known someone would need me,” Diaz told Dayton Daily News. “In that moment, I had this feeling; I knew what to do. I was doing what I was called to do. God placed me at the right place at the right time.”
A day later, Diaz visited Gartley at the hospital. He was still sedated and intubated, but she had the chance to meet Gartley’s grateful mother, Lashon.
“You saved my world,” LaShon Gartley told Diaz.
According to the family, they were unaware of Josh Gartley’s condition. His collapse on campus was the first sign of the disease. He has since had an internal defibrillator implanted just in case it happens again.
Diaz was recently honored during halftime of a CSU men’s basketball game against Virginia University of Lynchburg.
