BALTIMORE COUNTY — A woman is sharing her story of a near-death experience in hopes of raising awareness about the importance of knowing life-saving techniques like CPR and using an AED.
That woman is Breanna Sudano.
Her life was saved nearly 13-years-ago after she went into cardiac arrest at a field hockey game.
She was 13 at the time. Now, she is 26-years-old.
Now, more than a decade later, her story is still being told as a way to raise awareness of the importance of knowing CPR and how to use AED's.
In September of 2011, her Perry Hall JV field hockey team was competing against Catonsville High School.
Sudano scored the tying goal and the winning goal. She walked off the field to be subbed out.
“And then, I just collapsed on the field. And then, the varsity coach of my high school, Perry Hall, and the JV coach of Catonsville, immediately realized what was happening. I had gone into cardiac arrest," said Sudano.
Both coaches started chest compressions immediately.
There was no AED present on the field. The closest one was at the athletics department.
Thankfully, there were three cardiac nurses in the stands.
They rushed to help with CPR.
"Between the five of them, they were doing chest compressions, I want to say for nine minutes, before an AED was present to set my heart, so EMS and everything arrives," said Sudano.
Once EMS arrived, they were able to give her the shock to reset her heart. Sudano was then rushed to the hospital.
“They were able to run some tests and they diagnosed me with anomaly of my left coronary artery. I was only 13-years-old, and I was going in for an open-heart surgery," said Sudano.
Sudano's recovery went well. She was cleared to play sports the next year.
Her incident ultimately sparked change.
All public high school students in the state of Maryland now have to learn CPR and how to use an AED as a requirement to graduate from high school.
"It was about for about a year; I want to say my sophomore year of high school I was working with Maryland State Government and the American Heart Association in order to get this law passed.”
The law has been in effect for about 10 years. Sudano knows it’s already made a difference.
"To my knowledge, there have been two people that have credited my law for the reason their life has been saved because the person performing CPR on them learned CPR in high school through my law being enacted.
Sudano, now 26, lives and works in North Carolina. Her life was forever changed in 2011. She is now certified to teach others CPR and how to use AED's.
"Life is good. I’m always very happy to talk to people from Maryland who are willing to do stories the importance of CPR and AED awareness," said Sudano.
Sudano works at UNC Wilmington as a coordinator for their sports program.