15-year-old saved from cardiac arrest

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) - Until February 27, the only thing 15 year-old Josh Bowman worried about was his skateboard.

But all that changed during a skateboarding competition in Virginia Beach. Bowman was right in the middle of a performance at a Virginia Beach skatepark, when he collapsed from a full blown cardiac arrest.

"All I remember is waving my arm and saying, 'I can't do it anymore' and...gone," Bowman said.

With family and friends surrounding him, paramedics were on the way.

"We found him laying on top of the skate ramp," said Virginia Beach paramedic Jerry Sourbeer.

Sourbeer and his partner Angela Achesinski said that, when they arrived, Josh had no pulse. They immediately started CPR, but soon had to take more greater measures to save his life.

"We shocked his chest," said Sourbeer.

Bowman's young heart responded. After only one shock, it began to beat again.

"I cried," said Achesinski. "I cried after that, when Josh talked to me in the back of the ambulance."

But for Bowman, the fight was far from over. He spent the next 23 days in the hospital and even had double by-pass surgery. He was then sent home with a mobile difibulator implanted in his chest, which doctors say is very rare for an otherwise healthy 15-year-old.

"I call that day my second birthday," said Bowman. "It's when I died and came back. It's my re-birth."

It is also a day Achesinski and Sourbeer say changed their careers and their lives.

"If you do it, you put your heart into it and you can't walk away from it," said Achesinski.

"There's no greater personal satisfaction or personal happiness than being able to have a positive impact on someone else's life," said Sourbeer.

But the number of people who will experience that kind of gratification through EMS is dwindling, even though the need for personnel is growing.

Sourbeer is a career paramedic and admits, the job can have its ups and downs, but when reminded of Josh Bowman, "This one call will make everything worth while."

For Achesinski, a volunteer paramedic for the last 10 years, the job means taking away much more than she gives.

"I can volunteer doing anything, but this makes a difference in people's lives."

Click here to learn more information on how to become EMS: becomeems.org