Marshall High School student Andy Campos was asleep the morning of May 15th when he awoke to everyone in his house screaming.

“My Grandma was on the ground and not responding,” Andy, a rising sophomore, said recalling how he immediately grabbed his phone to call 911, where an operator directed him to start giving his grandmother cardiopulmonary resuscitation after she had suffered cardiac arrest.

Andy had just completed a mandatory health education class unit on CPR, where he’d taken a test that required him to demonstrate how to use the life-saving skill on mannequins.

“I definitely didn’t think a week afterwards I’d be using it,” Andy said.

 

Andy put his hands on his grandmother’s chest, pressed down two inches 30 times in a row, then checked to see if she was breathing. After the first 30 repetitions, he heard his grandmother begin to make noises that sounded like snoring.

“I don’t know what it was, but I instantly just took on the responsibility of giving my Grandma CPR,” Andy says. “I wasn’t thinking about it, I just immediately began doing it and to my surprise I remembered how to do it.”

Paramedics arrived shortly thereafter in an ambulance and were able to take over the process, and transport Andy’s grandmother to the hospital, where she made a full recovery.

“My aunt was at the hospital and she heard from the doctors that Grandma wouldn’t be here if I hadn’t done CPR,” Andy said. “My grandma was really thanking me, she didn’t think I could do something like that. It surprised her a little.”

FCPS Superintendent Dr. Michelle C. Reid, Ed.D., praised Andy’s “incredible heroics.”

“His quick thinking, and ability to keep calm in a scary situation, coupled with the CPR training he took at Marshall High School, saved his grandmother’s life,” Dr. Reid said. “The positive outcome of this medical emergency shows the importance and effectiveness of the required CPR program at our high schools. It is literally a lifesaver!”

FCPS trains students to perform CPR as part of grade 9 health and physical education, said Carrie Reynolds, FCPS Coordinator for K-12 Health, Physical, Family Life & Driver Education. 

 

The mandatory CPR training unit aims to ensure students leave FCPS knowing a "life-saving skill that supports them in being a good citizen who can respond in an emergency," Reynolds said. CPR training in particular is linked to FCPS's "Portrait of a Graduate" goals to help students become ethical and global citizens, who participate in activities that benefit the community and are ready to assist when they see someone struggling, she added.

“It is wonderful to learn of a student who was able to apply the skills he learned in school to a real-life situation and that he played a vital role in saving the life of his grandmother,” Reynolds said. 

According to the American Heart Association, over 73% of hospital cardiac arrests occur at home or in places of residence.  When CPR is performed immediately it can double or triple the chance of survival.

“I think this is really important, you never know when you will need to use this,” Andy said. “It may not be a family member, could be a total stranger you can help, but it all matters.”

Watch DC News Now’s coverage of Andy’s heroic story.

Learn about the CPR requirement in FCPS Health and Physical Education.

Read about the FCPS "Portrait of a Graduate" program.