On November 20th Quillen was playing basketball at school when he suddenly collapsed and went into cardiac arrest.  His friends acted quickly and notified a nearby school attendant who contact a campus police officer.  The officer started CPR immediately and was able to get Quillen to breath until the paramedics arrived.  

While being rushed to Providence St Vincent, Quillen continued having complications and had to be shocked three times before he started breathing again.

Once at Providence, he was placed in an induced coma while blood work and images of his heart were being taken.  The first thing we had to rule out was whether or not he had a heart defect.  Providence scheduled him to be picked up by helicopter and flown to a local pediatric cardiologist at Randall Children’s Hospital.

Within an hour of arriving at Providence Quillen was life flighted to Randall Children’s hospital, one of the best pediatric hospitals around.  The results for his blood work came back normal and the images showed a healthy heart.  The next thing to assume is a possible heart arrhythmia.  More tests were ordered.

They will keep him sedated over the next 3 days to let his body and brain recover from the trauma while they continue running tests. They’re keeping his body temperature low, as cooling the body can prevent or limit permanent injury to the brain and the heart.  The cooling gives him the shivers so they’ve been giving him muscle relaxers when he looks uncomfortable.

This is all we know at this time. His dad will be at his side the entire time. With time off work and no medical coverage, anything will help our family.

Thank you all in advance.

Megan Nissley - Quillen’s Aunt