The School Nurse Said I Was “Faking It”—Then My Heart Stopped in the Hallway

urgent voices. They cut my shirt open in the hallway, slapped electrodes onto my chest. A monitor lit up, and one paramedic—a woman with gray hair—looked at the screen, eyes widening.

“V-fib. Charging to 200. Clear!”

My body arched off the floor as electricity blasted through me. Pure pain, like my chest exploded and clenched simultaneously. The monitor continue reading …