Brendan, Jody Allen: James Nash school staff, paramedics saved son’s life

The couple once behind an internationally popular blog say the efforts of a Qld school’s staff and paramedics saved the life of their teenage son after his heart stopped during a morning break.

Parents Jody and Brendan Allen say they “cannot repay” the school staff and first responders whose extraordinary efforts saved their teenage son’s life after the boy’s heart stopped beating at school.

Speaking exclusively to this publication, Mr Allen, whose wife Jody founded the internationally popular Stay At Home Mum online blog and media site in 2011 before passing the brand on in 2023, opened up about the extraordinary events that unfolded with “no warning”.

Mr Allen said their son, a Year 11 student at Gympie’s James Nash State High School whom the family asked not be named, was ordering a chicken toastie at the school’s tuckshop on the morning of Wednesday, May 15, when “he just dropped to the ground”.

One of the boy’s friends, who was in line with the teen, called Mrs Allen to tell him what had happened.

“We thought it was a fainting spell, something serious but not life threatening,” Mr Allen said.

Brendan Allen, pictured here with wife Jody said their son, a Year 11 student at Gympie’s James Nash State High School whom the family asked not be named, was ordering a chicken toastie at the school’s tuckshop on the morning of Wednesday, May 15, when “he just dropped to the ground”.

The couple soon realised this was not the case.

Mr Allen, who had been working at his home office for his carpentry business, said he then had a call from school staff saying his son “had collapsed and had to be resuscitated”.

“My world completely fell apart,” he said.

He dropped everything and rushed to the school feeling “like I was in a dream”.

“I was probably about 10 or 12 minutes away from the school, and it felt like it took three hours,” Mr Allen said.

“It was just like running on the spot in a dream.”

Brendan Allen said staff at Gympie’s James Nash State High School responded immediately, initially performing CPR when they discovered the teenager was not breathing.

He arrived to find Mrs Allen already by their son’s side as paramedics were treating him.

“To feel that helpless, I never, ever want to feel like that again,” Mr Allen said.

The school staff’s response to the incident was immediate.

“The first teacher on the scene was there within seconds, the second helper arrived a minute or so later,” Mr Allen said.

“They both began manual CPR on him almost immediately after they found no pulse, no breathing.”

Within minutes a staff member was able to restart the teen’s heart with a defibrillator.

A member of James Nash State High School’s staff managed to restart the boys heart with a defibrillator, and responding paramedics then treated him and rushed him to Gympie Hospital. Picture: Brendan Radke

Paramedics arrived soon after and “got him to a point where his breathing was assisted and his heart was working again”, albeit erratically.

He was then rushed to Gympie Hospital’s emergency ward with his parents by his side.

From there the teen was placed in an induced coma and flown to the Sunshine Coast University Hospital.

He was in an induced coma for “about 20 hours”.

About 11am Thursday, about 24 hours after their son’s collapse, the Allens were having a meeting with SCUH staff about what came next when he started to wake up.

“He very quickly responded by squeezing one of the nurse’s hands. Then he squeezed Jody’s hand,” Mr Allen said.

The early diagnosis was long QT syndrome, he said.

The Allen’s son was placed in an induced coma and flown to Sunshine Coast University Hospital. He started waking up about 24 hours after his collapse.

It was a heart signalling disorder, or an electrical interruption, that can cause arrhythmia and lead to people fainting or experiencing sudden seizures without warning.

In extreme cases, it can be fatal as the heart stops and does not restart.

Mr Allen said the extreme case was what happened to his son, and the chances of survival in those instances were slim.

The survival rate from an “undiagnosed first occurrence of this is 10 per cent”, he said.

It was the school staff’s rapid response which saved his boy’s life.

“CPR will keep people alive to a real bare minimum,” Mr Allen said.

“But the only way to restart it is with a defibrillator.”

There had been “no warning” his son was at risk of such a health issue.

“Nothing at all … he’s had no heart problems, he showed no sings, never complained of any heart issues, has never had any blackouts … he completely missed step one and two and went straight to three,” Mr Allen said.

The prognosis for their son was good, and he was expected to return to almost entirely normal life.

Brendan Allen said his son was believed to have suffered by Long QT syndrome, an electrical issue within the heart which can cause erratic beats and arrhythmia. Mr Allen said the survival rate of cases like his son experienced, where it was undiagnosed and caused the heart to stop, was about 10 per cent.

Mr Allen said this came down to the extraordinary and rapid response from the school, Gympie paramedics and SCUH staff.

He said there was not enough which could possibly be said to express how the family felt about those who had saved their son’s life.

“There’s nothing I can say or do that will ever repay them for what they’ve given us,” Mr Allen said.

“The fact at this stage he looks like he’s going to make a full recovery, they have said that’s the only thing that they needed.”
Fighting through tears, Mr Allen said “if I could give them anything in the world that they want or need, I had the means or the ability to do it, I would give them anything”.

“They are the most important people that could ever have been in the proximity of when it happened,” he said.

“They just saved his life.

“It’s beyond words, I just can’t express it.”

Brendan Allen said the efforts of the staff, paramedics and health care workers who saved his son’s life were “beyond words”.

He hoped they would receive any support they needed as “it would be an extremely traumatic experience for them”.

“What they did can’t be repaid.”

Mr Allen acknowledged the Wishlist group, too, which had found a room for Mrs Allen – who had been “stoic” throughout the ordeal and never left their son’s side – to stay at, and happened to have a view of her son’s window at SCUH.

He urged any parents or people who had any blackout spells which had not been diagnosed to see a doctor.

“If you’ve got a history of heart problems or you’ve lost anybody suddenly, get checked out,” Mr Allen said.

“If there’s even a slight niggle in the back of your head that … this might be more serious … speak to your GP straight away.”

“Because once it’s diagnosed it’s treatable.”

Originally published as Brendan, Jody Allen: James Nash school staff, paramedics saved son’s life