HIGH POINT, N.C. — February is recognized as American Heart Health Month. Cardiovascular conditions can impact anyone no matter the age.
One Guilford County teen is proof of that. His life changed forever after he collapsed during basketball practice.
Our team caught up with him as he shares how he turned a traumatic life event into a learning lesson for others.
January 25th, 2022 started as a normal school day at Allen Jay Preparatory Academy in High Point, until it wasn't.
After the last bell rang, and the boy's basketball team began to warm up for practice, the unthinkable happened.
"About two minutes in, I noticed all the basketball players surrounding Javion, he apparently fell as he crossed the baseline", the school's middle school boys basketball coach Scott Newkirk told us.
Van Newkirk realized this was unlike any other situation he's ever dealt with as a coach. So he called 9-1-1 and asked for help from the school's athletic director, Montrez Shaw.
"When I got there it was clear he was unresponsive. So we flipped him over, and I ran to go get the AED, came back, and began the AED process", said Shaw.
As the ambulance rushed To the school, Van Newkirk and Shaw did all they could to keep Javion alive. However, someone had to notify his mother.
"I just started yelling and screaming as I was driving, and by the time I arrived at Cone health, I walked in the Chaplin was waiting for me, and in my mind, the Chaplin means death", is how Dr. Kimberly Jones-Goods described her reaction after learning of Jaivon's medical emergency.
Thankfully Javion was not dead. After 10-plus days at two different North Carolina Hospitals, he was diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Doctors also installed a defibrillator in his arm to make sure Javion never has to experience anything like this ever again.
"I was just in disbelief, and I needed to know if I could still play sports. That was the only thing going through my head. Can I still go play basketball? Can I play football? Can I play baseball? That was all that was going through my head at that time", Jaivon Jones told us.
Although Javion is no longer able to play basketball, football, or any other contact sport his favorite sport was always baseball.
Not only is Javion a member of the junior varsity baseball team at Ragsdale High School, but he was selected for a special honor as well.
Javion was selected as one of the 2022-2023 class of National Youth Heart Ambassadors to be the face and voice in the American Heart Associations’ in-school initiatives, Kids Heart Challenge and American Heart Challenge.