SCA DOES NOT DISCRIMINATE.
In late November 2020, a very healthy athlete who had been through multiple school and pediatric physicals went into cardiac arrest.
“My name is Matt Cobb and I am the president of Matt’s Mission. On November 30, 2020 my life changed forever. It was around 12:00 pm on a Monday and I was getting ready to clock out for lunch. However, I saw my co-worker, Kenny, clocking out. I was debating whether to clock out or not but, if I were to leave, then I would have been putting all the work on my other co-worker Jordan. While I was debating, Jordan pulled me aside and told me that he needed help outside on the forklift. He was operating it, and I came along. As we were heading to the back, Jordan was talking about the hardships that he went through growing up. I was listening very carefully trying to relate to him, but I could not, my life was ordinary, good actually. I was trying hard to find something to say to him. I told him about the time my mom was diagnosed with brain cancer, even though I was a baby and didn’t remember. It was the only thing I could come up with.
As Jordan and I were pulling an order of pipe, I told him I didn’t feel good. I passed out in front of him and fell off the forklift headfirst. Little did I know, the person I couldn’t relate to, would be the one who saved my life. He called 911 and started CPR immediately with the guidance of the emergency operator on speakerphone. As Jordan was doing CPR, my dad was on his knees praying to God, prayer was what he instinctively turned to. My uncle ran over to me with an AED. He placed it on me and there was an error message. The AED didn’t work. My uncle took over doing CPR until a team of firefighters showed up. They shocked me at least two times. I was still unresponsive. I was taken to Advent Health. When I arrived I was put in an induced coma. I was given hyperthermia protective treatment, where my body was frozen to 91 degrees for 24 hours. My parents were told that I had a 50% chance of surviving. To the surprise of the hospital staff, I was responsive after the hypothermia treatment and made improvements daily. While I was in the hospital, the prayers and support from my family and friends was overwhelming.
When I left the hospital, Jordan came over a week later and told me the story that I have told you guys. When Jordan left, I took some time to think about what really happened and how it happened. If my coworker didn’t already leave for lunch ahead of me, I would have left. I would have been in my car alone when the event happened. If Jordan didn’t pull me aside and ask for my help, I would have been working alone and there may have not been anyone around to witness me passing out or to start CPR. God was watching over me that day, I truly believe that. God placed me in front of Jordan so I could share my story and raise awareness of the number one cause of student athlete deaths, called SCA”.
