Texas teen with rare disorder revived after being declared dead: ‘Literal miracle’

A Texas teenager who died at the top of a rock climbing wall came back to life two hours after he went into cardiac arrest in what doctors have called a “literal miracle.”

Sammy Berko, 16, went into cardiac arrest during what was supposed to be a fun day spent at the gymnasium.

“He climbed to the top of the wall, rang the bell, as we were told, and then his body went limp, and it looked like he was either playing around or passed out. They weren’t quite sure and when they realized he was unresponsive, they lowered him slowly,” Sammy’s mother, Jennifer, told Fox 26 in an interview.

Gym employees, paramedics and doctors took turns giving the teen CPR for two hours before Sammy was declared dead.

The grieving parents — who were still mourning the loss of Sammy’s older brother Frankie from three years earlier — were given a private moment to say goodbye to their second son.

“I started talking to him, just telling him how much I love him and sorry that we didn’t know how to save him. Suddenly, as I started praying, my husband said, ‘Oh my gosh, he’s moving,’” Jennifer said.

“These are professionals who have been doing this their entire lives, who have seen the worst of the worst. Each and every one of them afterward came to us and said that they have never seen anything like this before. Ever. Never had they ever pronounced somebody and suddenly they came back five minutes later.”

Doctors called the teenager a “literal miracle,” not only because he cheated death, but because he came back with limited brain injuries.

With the lack of oxygen to his brain during his ephemeral death, Sammy only suffered short-term memory loss for several weeks.

“I don’t remember anything about the day it happened. The last thing I remember is the night before we had to sign waivers online (for the rock climbing gym), and then I woke up … Then I remember my dad telling me, ‘This is what happened and you better remember this time, because he said it so many times,’” Sammy told the outlet.

The teen also suffered an ischemic spine injury during cardiac arrest and lost feeling in his legs, but is working on learning to walk again.

The experience, though terrifying, helped uncover a rare genetic condition that had been living in the Berko family tree.

Jennifer, Sammy and Frankie had been unknowingly living with Catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia (CPVT), a rare genetic disorder that affects his heart.

Frankie, who died when he was 16, had been suffering dramatic seizures that led to multiple traumatic brain injuries — including one that caused him to fall 10 feet from a diving board to the ground below, landing on his head.

The boy’s father Craig, a former paramedic, tried to give Frankie CPR during his last seizure, but the teenager couldn’t be revived.

“The feeling when we got to the ER was the most horrific rendition of Groundhog’s Day,” Jennifer said.

“We thought we had already been through the worst of the worst. We had been shopping for a car for Frankie’s birthday when we lost him and now we were two years away from Sammy’s graduation and getting ready to buy him a car for his birthday as a surprise, and then this happened. I guess it’s just shock and a feeling like you’re reliving the most horrific time of your life all over again.”

After identifying his CPVT, Sammy underwent a procedure and — along with his mother — was given a lifetime prescription for medication to help prevent cardiac arrest.

The teenager is working to regain his leg and core strength and is undergoing music therapy.

“I knew it would be a weird, crazy experience learning to walk again and working on strength without using my legs to be able to balance me. It has just been an amazing experience here actually, like I’ve noticed that I’m better every day! I’m doing something new every single day,” Sammy said.