Abilene ISD nurse, Texas Tech nursing student honored for saving young student's life

Lyric Fisher, 12, a seventh-grade student at Craig Middle School, has no recollection of what happened Oct.6.

Yet, it's likely school nurse Jennifer Hoffman and Texas Tech nursing student Grant Gamble won't ever forget.

On Thursday afternoon, with Lyric and her mother, Jennifer, in attendance, Hoffman and Gamble receive Lifesaving Awards from the Abilene Police Department and Abilene Fire Department.

Their emotions took over.

"The last thing she remembered was getting picked up from school the day before," Jennifer Fisher said. "At least, that's what she told me."

A naturally shy girl, Lyric didn't say a word. But her mother had tears on her cheeks throughout the ceremony. 

Lyric's story starts two years ago, her mom said.

That  was when she was diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a disease where the heart becomes abnormally thick, according to The Mayo Clinic.

It's a genetic disorder, her family believes, passed down from her father, who has the disease.

Though HCM often goes undiagnosed because symptoms are rare, that October morning at school was different. And everyone involved went into crisis mode.

Lyric went into cardiac arrest.

First to notice were the students. They alerted the teacher and the nurse, Hoffman.

Hoffman and Gamble quickly responded, alerting 911 while also applying the school's Automated External Defibrillator.

Ultimately, the pair saved Lyric's life, successfully shocking her back to normal and providing CPR until first responders, including Fire Chief Cande Flores himself, arrived.

"No one could've predicated what would've happened," Flores said in presenting the two with their awards Thursday.

Lyric was taken to Cook Children's Medical Center in Fort Worth, where she received an implant designed to help should another emergency occur, Jennifer Fisher said.

She's also about to undergo a genetic test to help figure out what caused the abnormality, Fisher said. That will be in December.

With two known heart conditions in the family, they've all been taking the COVID-19 pandemic seriously.

Jennifer Fisher praised her daughter.

"She's very resilient," she said. "We've all been wearing our masks, keeping our hands clean. We're doing what we can."

Lyric returned to school about a week after the incident.

Stepping up

Abilene police also publicly recognized the four officers of the quarter since last year's award ceremony and officially promoted both Jonathan Ramirez and Chris Milliorn to the rank of sergeant.

Both Ramirez and Milliorn will be assigned to supervise patrol divisions, the department said.

Ramirez most recently was in narcotics, while Milliorn was a member of the cybercrimes taskforce. 

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