A 12-year-old Arizona girl was saved by a teammate’s mother after falling to the ground with a sudden cardiac arrest during soccer practice on Thursday.
Pyper Midkiff was playing soccer with her team in Phoenix, Arizona, last week when she suddenly collapsed, according to CBS 5, Phoenix.
Were it not for another player’s mother, who is also an ICU nurse, the girl would have died on the field, reports say. Instead, she was revived and rushed to a local hospital, where she is now recovering.
The young girl’s father was on the same field coaching another team when he was alerted that his daughter fell stricken. He told the media that the girl’s pulse was lost at least once before she was airlifted to Phoenix Children’s Hospital.
Instagram/sportsptmidkiff_fit
The girl was not known to have any health issues, but now doctors say she has been diagnosed with a “genetic condition.”
“Everyone thinks their kid is special. But Pyper has something special about her and the world needs more people like her,” Matt Midkiff told the station.
“The world needs more Pypers and seeing what I just saw gives me hope. Sports and soccer is more than competition and the support over the past few days shows that everybody gets it over the past few days,” he added.
Instagram/sportsptmidkiff_fit
Midkiff also told the media that his daughter had regained consciousness and was alert in the hospital.
The Phoenix Rising soccer team posted a photo to Instagram showing the players huddled around Pyper’s jersey:
The family has also set up a GoFundMe page that has already raised over $46,000.
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