BAKER COUNTY, Fla — Ryne Jacobs looked like the picture of health in January 2021.
“If you looked at him, you would think he was in phenomenal, physical condition,” Johnnie Jacobs, Ryne’s father and the principal of Baker County High School said.
Athletic, an avid swimmer since the age of ten, it was his first day of tennis practice at Baker County High School when the then 17-year-old almost died.
“My husband called and said Ryne had collapsed on the tennis courts and to get to the high school as soon as possible,” Heather Jacobs recalled.
“There's not much I remember about that day. It's mostly just a blur,” Ryne Jacobs said.
For his coach, Steve Delisle, it's a day he will never forget.
“That day, the National Federation of High Schools requires us to do video training on sudden cardiac arrest, heat stroke, and concussion. And that day, we had just completed those three trainings before we went out to the tennis courts,” Delisle said.
It's something he had trained for over the years, but this would be the first time he would have to use it.
“Ryne just looked a little out of it,” Delisle recalled. “I stayed close because he just didn't look right. The next thing I know, I'm standing there talking to him and a couple of other players, and he kind of falls against the fence. And then he just starts to slump. And I caught him.”
Delisle immediately started CPR which likely saved Ryne's life.
“As a coach it's just vital you know it,” Delisle said. “Everyone wants to say you're a hero. You did this. You did that. No, I just did what I was trained to do.”
The Jacobs rushed to their son's side.
“He was in the ambulance. And that's when the paramedics said that it was not good. His heart was not beating,” Heather Jacobs said.
Ryne had suffered sudden cardiac arrest on the tennis courts, something nine out of ten people don't survive.
He was life flighted to Wolfson Children's Hospital in Jacksonville.
“Upon landing at Wolfson's, he went into sudden cardiac arrest again,” Heather Jacobs said.
And that's not all. During the whole ordeal he also had a stroke.
“I'm grateful he's here because most people don't survive one,” Heather Jacobs said. “I did ask the doctors when he landed at Wolfson’s what were his chances of survival, and it was less than 30%.”
“For him to survive, and him to be doing as great as he is now, it’s nothing short of miraculous,” Johnnie Jacobs said. “There's divine intervention there.”
Ryne was diagnosed with a genetic heart condition known as ARVC, a condition the Jacobs say an electrocardiogram could have helped detect.
“It could have, it could have shown irregular heartbeats,” Heather Jacobs said.
One of his brothers has since been diagnosed with the same heart condition.
“The more you know, the more educated you can be, the more prepared you can be,” Heather Jacobs said. “I never thought I'd be in this position. I'm grateful that my son is alive.”
Now 21, Ryne can' t do a lot of the physical activities he once did because of his heart condition, but he is just grateful to be alive.
“I just want people to know that, you know, it can happen to all ages from 80 years old to two it can happen to anyone that anytime,” Ryne Jacobs said.
“He wasn't under a tremendous amount of stress. He wasn't swimming laps in the pool. He was just batting a tennis ball back and forth and getting used to using a racket. And then he was down,” Coach Delisle said. “And the immediacy of it, the urgency of it, if there's anything that someone can do to avoid things like that, why would you not?”