Alicia’s LQTS Story
Alicia’s life suddenly changed 5 years ago. On June 25, 2017, Alicia had completed a mile long swim race. Then just 6 days later, on July 1st, she suffered a cardiac arrest only 5 minutes into an open water swim in Cambridge, Wisconsin—which was part of training for her first triathlon.
Luckily, her family was trailing her on a motorized boat. She looked up at her dad and mouthed “help”, but when he threw her a floatation device, she didn’t reach out for it. Her sister immediately jumped into the water and Alicia fell limp into her arms. Once Alicia was back on the boat, her dad performed lifesaving bystander CPR for 20 minutes before emergency services could arrive and defibrillate her back to normal sinus rhythm. She was then brought to Madison, Wisconsin where she was put into therapeutic hypothermia to recover.
It was the team in Madison that believed her condition to be Long QT syndrome based on the swimming incident and had her implanted with a defibrillator and pacemaker. When she returned home to Minneapolis, she underwent a series of tests. The initial exercise stress test did not show any prolonged QT, and Brugada Syndrome testing was negative as well. It was during the Epinephrine QT stress test that doctors found her prolonged QT and confirmed Long QT Syndrome. Alicia now takes a beta blocker twice per day and, along with the security of her pacemaker and defibrillator, she feels pretty good!
Unfortunately, Alicia can no longer swim but there have still been plenty of positives that came out of her near-death experience. Since her cardiac arrest, Alicia has been on a mission to spread awareness about the importance of bystander CPR. This initiative started when she created a fundraising platform called “Be Brave” that was originally meant to give back to the EMS community that saved her life. Since then, she has organized multiple charity events and raised over $25,000 through Be Brave.
Alicia is also a certified basic life support instructor. Her mission is to encourage bystander CPR, and she feels that the word “certification” scares people away from performing the lifesaving skill. Funds raised through Be Brave allow Alicia to teach hands-only bystander CPR to private groups in her community, including sports teams, schools, and even in people’s homes. Her current goal is to raise enough money through Be Brave to hire another AED trainer to grow her at-home style program.
Besides her passion for teaching CPR, Alicia already has extensive experience in healthcare. She has been a level 1 Trauma Nurse at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minnesota for the past 20 years, working in the emergency department for the past 15 of those years. She is also the mom of two boys who are very busy themselves with football, hockey, and basketball. To top it off, Alicia is an amateur charcuterie board maker! What started as a hobby with her girlfriends during COVID, turned into a business that was actually so busy she had to shut it down, and now only makes boards for special occasions.
Overall, Alicia has been living a full and rounded life since what could have been a horribly devastating day. She has learned to live with her condition and has turned the experience into an opportunity to advocate for what she believes in: Be Brave and perform bystander CPR. It can save a life!
