Football Player Survives after 'Dying' on Field

PEARLAND, Texas - Only six months earlier, a Houston-area football player was at the top of his game. College coaches were traveling to Pearland to visit Jonathan Moore at Dawson High School; then a medical condition almost wiped out much more than his potential football career.

Moore has been on the football field since he was only four years old. He tells FOX 26 News other than school, there was just football in his life. He wanted to make it all the way to the NFL and his family and friends thought he had a good chance.

That all changed during spring workouts.

"He wasn't breathing. No pulse. I began CPR immediately," explains Chris Shaddock, an athletic trainer at Dawson High School. Jonathan had died on the field for several minutes.

"He had a condition called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy that can cause fatal abnormal rhythms in the lower chamber of the heart," says Dr. Hue-Teh Shi, a cardiac electrophysiologist at Childrens Memorial Hermann Hospital and the Center for Cardiac Arrhythmias.

Many other players have suffered similar problems. That is why a law insists that all schools have portable electronic devices called Automated External Defibrillators, or AEDs, on the field at all times.

"We hooked the AED to Jonathan and it shocked him once. We performed CPR a little longer," says Shaddock. Moore had a faint heartbeat. Emergency medical workers raced Jonathan to Children's Memorial Hermann Hospital, where he spent his 17th birthday in a coma.

"(Children's) Memorial Hermann did a great job. They cooled his body down to 89 degrees to help his brain, because the brain is going to swell from lack of oxygen", says Shaddock.

Moore's mom, Vanessa, rushed to the hospital to be with her son. She says there was very little hope at the time.

"To see him lying there was just devastating," says Vanessa Williams.

Then, Moore surprised everyone when he arose from a coma.

"I just remember waking up in the hospital, talking to my mother," says Jonathan Moore.

Doctors implanted a device in Moore's chest to help save his life if he suffers from sudden cardiac arrest again. He will wear it for the rest of his life and should need no further treatment, unless his condition worsens.

"This is a device that will detect an abnormal rhythm, and if it beats too fast, it starts charging up. Its current shocks, to revive the patient," says Dr. Shih.

Moore's mother says all of the prayers and support came through. Though Jonathan Moore will never be able to play a contact sport again, his coach has named him a captain of the Eagles football team.

"Even though he can't play, he's going to be part of our football family. He's going to be #92 on the sideline. You'll see him in his jersey," says Eric Wells, head coach of Dawson High School.

The sideline is the lst place Jonathan Moore wants to be, but he is making the most of it.

"I've been on the field, helping underclassmen with the techniques I use to be the best player I can be, to pass it on to them," says Moore. His coach calls him the miracle kid.

Moore's mother has an important message for her talented son. "We thank God you're here. You have life. Football is not that important to me - it's that you are here!"

The biggest fan at Dawson High School football games this season will not be cheering in the stands, he will be even closer to the field. It is Jonathan Moore, realizing he cannot turn over the ball, but knowing he can tackle his medical condition with a positive attitude.

Moore wants to start a foundation to raise awareness about his medical condition. He would like to help others who have suffered from it and help other athletes prevent deadly consequences from it. He is also considering becoming a coach someday.

On the Web:

Memorial Hermann Hospital description of Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy -- http://www.memorialhermann.org/adam/health%20illustrated%20encyclopedia/2/18141.aspx