Cardiac arrest survivor’s message: ‘. . . never take anything for granted’

RIVERSIDE — A mother and daughter want to remind people about what can save the life of an athlete -- or anyone else -- struck down by cardiac arrest.

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Their message is especially timely, with high school and college athletes either starting or continuing practice for their fall seasons.

Ebonie Sherwood, a Stebbins High School student, was at track practice in March when she went into cardiac arrest. Her journey has included a heart transplant and being able to walk out of physical therapy represents some of the progress she has made in the last two months since that part of her journey.

“It’s really good to be home,” she told News Center 7′s Brandon Lewis on Friday.

Ebonie graduated from Stebbins the day after she left the University of Cincinnati Medical Center.

“I have no restrictions now, so I walk the loop around the school next door,” the 18-year-old said. “It’s about half a mile. That’s as much as I walk at a time right now.”

When Ebonie was escorted from the hospital in a wheelchair in May after a 10-week stay, she needed help to stand and sit.

“Now she gets up, on and off the couch by yourself, she gets on the floor and lays and stretches and does little things [such as] being able to open a bottle of water, which she wasn’t able to do before,” her mother, Beverly Sherwood, said. “So she’s making like leaps and bounds improvements.”

These days, mother and daughter are thinking of Bronny James, the son of NBA legend LeBron James. According to CBS, James’s eldest son is out of a hospital and back home after suffering cardiac arrest this week while practicing at the University of Southern California, where he has chosen to play basketball.

“My heart went out to his family being a mom and knowing how scary that is to have your child go through that and the kind of the helpless feeling that you have’ Beverly Sherwood said.

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Ebonie and her mother said Stebbins athletic trainers who used an A-E-D on her and performed CPR saved her life.

This is the lesson she and her mother want everyone to learn.

“You never know where you’re going to be or who you’re going to be around. And somebody might need CPR,” Ebonie said. “I didn’t expect at a track practice to go down and then have a heart transplant two weeks later. I didn’t know if I would live well today, to this day but never take anything for granted.”

Ebonie said her plans include attending Sinclair Community College this fall and one of her goals to get back into track and field.

There is legislation in the Ohio Senate that would require schools to have an A-E-D. The House already has passed House Bill 47, its piece of legislation that included requiring the use of the A-E-D at schools.

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