Sign up for Meridian’s Free Newsletter, please CLICK HERE
PLAIN CITY, Weber County — A Plain City teen is being credited with saving his father’s life after the man collapsed while exercising on the Fremont High School track earlier this month.
Jeff Boothe, 40, said he almost set out to do sprints by himself, but at the last minute asked his 17-year-old son Colby to video him running down the track so that he could check his form. That is what he believes really made the difference. Seconds after Coby stopped recording is when Jeff Boothe collapsed.
“I got to the end of this straightaway and felt funny and out of breath, and I knew my heart had gone into a weird rhythm,” Jeff Boothe said.
He was born with a heart defect, but this was unusual.
“I was losing strength really quick, so I just leaned over for a second,” he said. “I could feel myself just losing strength, so I kneeled down on the track and called out to him and blacked out.”
The teen, who was checking the video on his phone, heard his dad call out his name.
“At first, I just thought he was just out of breath and maybe needs help to the bleachers, and I ran over and he wasn’t responsive,” he said.
Colby then went into panic mode.
“I booked it back to the phone and called 911 and ran back and started CPR; well the best CPR I could,” the 17-year-old said.
He only had a couple of basic CPR courses through school and Boy Scouts, but Colby said he remembered enough to get him through it with a 911 dispatcher’s help.
To read the full article on KSL, click here.
