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A teen has recovered after suffering a heart attack in gym class

The only sports Joseph Saintelus will be participating in this Thanksgiving will be watching the pros from his couch on television, but that’s fine by him.

The 14-year-old is just happy to be saying he can watch anything after he suffered a heart attack earlier this month while playing basketball at Ely High School.

“All of the sudden I didn’t see anything. I had a blackout,” said Saintelus, who will be released from the hospital just in time for the holidays.

This year, his family has something extra to be thankful for: Saintelus' life.

The rare teen heart attack occurred on Nov. 5, while he was playing in gym class. Saintelus fainted and school nurse Sheila O’Neal-Brown immediately began CPR, along with school security director Vernice Brown, who called 9-1-1.

Their fast actions were crucial to saving the boy's life, doctors said.

The rescue team shocked Saintelus’ heart back into beating and he was airlifted to the hospital. Doctors said his heart froze because of a congenital problem that his family was unaware of.

Now there's a small defibrillator implanted in Saintelus’ chest to shock his heart if it goes out of rhythm or fails again.

That means no more sports for the rambunctious teen so he’ll have to get buy on video games, he said.

But at least he has a new lease on life, and that’s plenty to give thanks for.

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