Bendigo boy survives severe asthma attack after being lifeless for more than 40 minutes

Twelve-year-old Brock was at school camp when an asthma attack stopped his heart for more than 40 minutes — and his parents heard it all over the phone.

A boy on school camp survived more than 40 minutes without a pulse following a terrifying asthma attack.

Brock Riddoch, 12, told his dad in a phone call “I can’t” as he gasped for breath and suddenly collapsed.

Teachers and camp staff mounted an extraordinary effort to bring the year 7 pupil back to life.

They performed CPR and used a defibrillator to try and kickstart Brock’s heart as dad Craig and mum Kristy made a desperate 90km dash to their son’s side.

The pair listened to the unfolding drama on the phone, hearing Brock was still lifeless.

Paramedics were eventually able to restart Brock’s heart and he was flown to the Royal Children’s Hospital and remained in an induced coma for 72 hours.

The Riddochs, from Bendigo, have been told Brock will be in hospital for at least six months as they learn the extent of damage to his brain.

“The whole way from home to there he was unresponsive — he had no pulse. He’d passed,’’ Mr Riddoch told the Sunday Herald Sun.

“I was thinking: ‘My son’s dead’.

“He was just on the ground on the concrete. It looked like something out of a movie.

“It wasn’t until we got to the gate of the camp that they actually got a pulse.”

Brock Riddoch, 12, on his way to a school camp the day before suffering a severe asthma attack.

Brock spent 72 hours in a coma.

Brock, with parents Craig and Kristy, is the Riddoch family’s ‘cheeky’ boy.

Mr Riddoch, who hasn’t left “Brocky’s” bedside since the ordeal almost three weeks ago, has vowed to do everything he can to help his son recover.

In an extraordinary coincidence Mr Riddoch too suffered brain injuries and was in a coma following a car accident aged 18 — an experience he wants to use to overcome the challenges ahead.

Brock’s brain has started to “re-route”, he has managed a few words and even a cheeky smile.

His movement is extremely limited.

“It was a big waiting game to find out whether he was going to breathe or what he was going to do on his own. And then he did. That was a relief,’’ Mr Riddoch said.

“It was like all your Christmases came at once — he’s alive!

“From there it’s just been intense with doctors and tests trying to find a cause as to why this happened.

“Every day he is improving — doing something different. That means his brain is recovering.

“But we don’t know how far he is going to go.”

Brock with dad Craig and sister Mea, 11.

A motorbike lover, Brock has spent many weekends with cousin Flynn.

Dad Craig hasn’t left Brock’s hospital bedside since the incident almost three weeks ago.

It’s believed anxiety about suffering an asthma attack away from the safety of home caused Brock to hyperventilate even more severely, starving his brain of oxygen in a deathly cycle.

It was the first time Brock had been on school camp.

He was diagnosed with asthma aged five and suffered attacks before, but never like the one on March 2.

He felt tight in the chest, raced back to his tent for his inhaler but the Ventolin had little effect, Brock and a schoolfriend alerting teachers.

Staff from Catherine McAuley College and the Benloch camp southeast of Bendigo swiftly realised something was seriously wrong.

“Without them we wouldn’t have him. There is no doubt at all,’’ Mr Riddoch said.

“They put me on speakerphone to him and he just said: ‘Dad, I can’t’ and then just went unresponsive.

“His heart had stopped for 42 ½ minutes.

“If he had of just stayed in that tent and lay there he would have died. He knew something was happening and that’s when the anxiety kicked in. He’s worried himself literally to death.”

Brock’s smile is still shining through despite his ordeal.

Sister Mea, 11, and cousin Mackenzie at the 12-year-old’s hospital bedside.

Brock with sisters Macey and Mea, 11 during a family holiday at Disney Aulani resort in Hawaii.

Aunt Sharelle Staff, whose son spends any weekend he can riding motorbikes with Brock who played for Huntly Football Club and is a massive Hawthorn fan, said the family’s resilience was extraordinary.

They also have two daughters, Mea, 11 and Macey, 8.

“They are just strong,’’ Ms Staff said.

“Things happen in life and everyone has tragedies. But they’ve gone through so much.

“It’s given Craig great purpose I think. He’s been given this role and he’s going to take it on.

“And Brock has got so much fight in him.”

Mr Riddoch sleeps on a couch in Brock’s hospital room, washes him and helps with rehab exercises three times a day.

Brock has been given a wheelchair but his father is determined it will be the last.

“I’ll get him back — don’t worry,’’ he said.

“He will do everything. I’ll make sure he does.”

To assist the family, visit au.gofundme.com/f/the-brock-riddoch-rehabilitation-fund

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