Last fall, Cirye "Cici" Carpenter, a 14-year-old student at Jobe Middle School in Mansfield, Texas, collapsed during a basketball game. She was saved by a parent of one of her classmates, Kari McConnell, an off-duty nurse who performed CPR and used a defibrillator to stabilize her.
Doctors couldn’t find anything wrong with Cici until after she had another, more serious, health scare a few weeks later during another game. Again, it was McConnell who came to the teen’s rescue. Following the second incident, doctors determined that Cici has a congenital heart condition that would require open-heart surgery.
The two incidents have formed a deep bond between the Carpenter and McConnell families. McConnell's timely intervention and medical expertise were pivotal in saving Cici's life, earning her the heartfelt gratitude of the teen and her family. Cici refers to McConnell as her "second mom," and both families now share an emotional bond. As she prepares for her upcoming surgery, McConnell is planning to be by her side the whole way.
Source: NBC DFW