Joseph's Story of Survival

  "Since he was a young boy, Joseph Collin's natural talent and passion for baseball showed promise for a bright baseball career.  In July of 2006, the 14-year-old Georgetown teen enjoyed a winning season with his team that qualified for a baseball competition in Florida with 23 teams from around the country. 

  On the day before leaving for Florida, Joseph felt tired, but attended practice.  Shortly after they began warming up and running sprints, he collapsed.  His body lay still, and the team's coach realized something was very wrong when he noticed that Joseph's eyes had rolled back.  He immediately began CPR and within minutes an ambulance arrived.  Joseph's heart had stopped beating, and as he lay on the baseball field, paramedics shocked his heart twice with a defibrillator to get it pumping again.  He was taken to a local emergency room, stabilized, and then transported to Children's Hospital of Austin.

  Doctors discovered something very rare-hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) - a thickening of the heart wall that prevents the heart from pumping correctly.  In most young patients who seem completely healthy, the first symptom of HCM is sudden death during heavy exercise.  A specially trained team of pediatric healthcare professionals at Children's fought to keep Joseph alive, packed his head with ice to keep his brain from swelling and hooked him to a ventilator to help him breathe.  He was placed in a medically induced coma for two-and-a-half days to give his body a chance to rest and to avoid damage to his brain.

  Six days later, Joseph underwent surgery and doctors inserted a defibrillator near his heart to keep it beating correctly.  The following day, he returned home and soon after began his freshman year at Georgetown High School.  Because HCM is a congenital abnormality, Joseph's parents, Eva and Mike, and 10-year-old brother, Nicholas, were tested.  The family was shocked when Mike tested positive for the same abnormality and in September, he underwent surgery to have a defibrillator sugically implanted.

  Joseph played baseball in the fall, but collapsed again during cardiac testing in January.  "I could tell when he opened his eyes, he knew it was over," say Mike.  "He realized he would never play baseball again.  He must bring his activity level down a level and will take medication for the rest of his life.  It was devastating."  But like a true champion, Joseph has re-channeled his energies into learning a new sport - golf - and is perfecting his game with private lessons and lots of practice.  He hopes to make the Georgetown High School golf team. 

  "As parents, we want our children's dreams to come true," says Eva.  "Children's Hospital of Austin has given Joseph a second chance at life and may have saved Mike's life as well.  We are forever grateful."

                                               -Children's Medical Foundation of Central Texas' Miracles Magazine, Spring 2007