About a week ago, 21-year-old Jay Yim collapsed while running in the Los Angeles Marathon.
Although other runners had also gone down during the race, Yim’s affliction was far more serious: cardiac arrest.
After Yim was transported to the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center with a faint pulse, doctors rushed to administer emergency treatment to protect his muscles and to keep his organs functioning.
The pre-medical student from USC remained in a coma for days.
But on Thursday, Yim, who had been previously described as lifeless and unresponsive, smiled broadly as he was wheeled across the stage for a press conference at the Reagan hospital to discuss his survival and recovery.
The conference brought together three of the professionals who helped save Yim’s life: Los Angeles Police Department Officer Josh Sewell, who was one of the first responders to Yim’s collapse, Dr. Charles Chandler, a clinical professor of surgery at UCLA who helped Sewell to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation and called for an ambulance to take Yim to UCLA, and Dr. Paul Vespa, director of UCLA’s Neurointensive Care Unit.
“It’s amazing to see Jay walk,” Sewell said, referencing Yim’s brief steps from his wheelchair to a chair at the conference table.
He added that when he initially saw Yim on the marathon route, the case was much different.
On the day of the marathon, Sewell was posted at Mile 18 in Santa Monica, where he saw Yim fall.
Initially, Sewell thought the young man was a victim of dehydration or muscle cramps.
However, when Yim did not respond to “chest noogies,” Sewell noticed that his eyes were rolled back in his head. He also had no pulse, was not breathing and had seizure activity at the scene.
The officer began to perform CPR and was joined by Chandler, an off-duty physician, who was a spectator at the marathon.
Chandler said he heard an officer say someone was down along the route, and when he got there, he found Sewell doing mouth-to-mouth on Yim, which was an important aspect of Yim’s eventual recovery.
Soon, Yim’s pulse was close to normal, the result of a “first-rate” resuscitation, Chandler said.
“It’s hard enough to do in a controlled environment, and this was anything but that,” he added.
Since the UCLA hospital was nearby and also accustomed to dealing with extreme cases, Chandler suggested that Yim be taken there. He added that Yim’s admittance to a trauma center could be a reason for his recovery.
Once at the hospital, Yim was placed in the charge of emergency physicians and staff. At the forefront of his care was Vespa, who chose to initiate a procedure called induced hypothermia to maximize his chances of recovery.
This process involves the injection of iced fluids into the veins via a catheter to cool the body and protect the organs, Vespa said. Although this procedure can save lives, especially when a victim’s brain and other organs have been deprived of oxygen for some time, it is not widely used because of its specialized equipment and trained staff, he said.
UCLA is one of approximately 70 hospitals that has the machinery necessary for this process.
Yim was kept cool for 48 to 72 hours, at which time he awoke from his coma and was gradually re-warmed, Vespa said.
He added that Yim’s brain looks good and that he is on his way to making a full recovery.
In spite of these signs of recuperation, Yim says he does not remember much of what happened during the marathon and even the week prior to his race. However, he said he was able to piece together events based on what others have told him.
At the press conference, he thanked the hospital staff for its care and said his hospital experience has given him a glimpse at his future career in medicine.
“It’s been an incredible eye-opener ““ I wanted to pursue emergency medicine before and I saw the staff and the care put into it.”
While it is still difficult for him to comprehend the magnitude of his experience, Yim said he is coming to acknowledge that his recovery is a miracle.
In honor of his recovery location, Vespa presented Yim with a UCLA T-shirt and hat, naming the USC Trojan an honorary Bruin.
“I’ll always have a special place in my heart for USC, but UCLA’s amazing,” he said with a smile.