SOUTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, Fla. (WSVN) — A South Florida student literally owes his life to his high school principal.
Devon Octave, 15, is ready to leave Miami Children’s Hospital, Wednesday, after spending close to two weeks there. It’s better than the alternative, though, as was clinically dead for seven minutes had it not been for Mater Lakes Academy Principal Rene Ravirosa.
Family and friends showed up for Octave’s departure from his room Wednesday, as well as Ravirosa, who is now considered part of the family.
On October 31, Octave was in wrestling practice when he went into cardiac arrest. It turned out he was born with heart condition that was never diagnosed.
The principal, who had just learned CPR six days earlier, jumped to his aid. “He gave me a breath that I thought for sure that he was gone,” recalled Ravirosa. “I said, ‘Don’t you do that. Devon, don’t you leave now.’”
His mother spoke through tears about that day. “The school got certified a few days before he collapsed,” said Johanne Benjamin. “I was home that day. His father was on his way to pick him up. It’s like everything lined up in order for him to be here today.”
Octave now has a tiny defibrillator implanted in him to prevent this from happening again.
He should be back in school next week.