PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — Oscar Stuebe, a 7-year-old boy, is once again meeting with the heroes who helped save his life back in 2024, after going into cardiac arrest.
The Stuebe family, West Palm Beach first responders, and St. Mary’s Medical Center officials met at Phipps Park on Thursday.
WATCH: 7-year-old thanks first responders who helped saved life in March 2024
Sarah Stuebe says she will never forget March 2024, when Oscar was playing for his Youth Baseball League.
“He yelled my name and the tone, the way he yelled it, I knew immediately something was wrong,” stated Sarah.
Her son Oscar was hit by baseball in the chest and went into cardiac arrest, so Sarah quickly jumped into action.
“I went into nurse mode,” stated Sarah. “He didn’t have a pulse, he wasn’t breathing and I did CPR.”
Sarah also dialed 911 and firefighters arrived within minutes.
She says they worked on him on the way to St. Mary’s Medical Center, until he gained consciousness.
“They should be thanked every day for what they do,” shared Sarah. “They gave us that seat at the table for our child and without them, we wouldn’t be here celebrating Oscar.”
Sarah said her son experienced commotio cordis, a rare disruption of heart rhythm, after getting hit in the chest.
Soon after recovering, Oscar met his heroes at the West Palm Beach Fire Department.
“His family brought him by the station after he had recovered at the hospital to say hi to all of us, so that we could see him as a happy, smiling child again,” said Cpt. Jeffrey Stefaniak with WPBFD.
Now the Stuebe family is sharing Oscar’s story and hopes to bring automated external defibrillators (AEDs) to local parks, and awareness for chest protectors.
“Having this [AED] here just gives me an extra peace of mind that my kids are going to be safe no matter what,” shared Sarah.
As Oscar moves forward, he continues playing baseball for the little league and enjoying his love for sports.
“Oscar was kind of the luckiest out this whole situation because he doesn’t remember anything,” said Sarah. “I’ll never look at my son the same way. I’ll never look at any of my kids the same way, just because life can change in an instant.”
The family said there will be a ribbon-cutting this Saturday morning at 9 a.m. to unveil the AED at Phipps Park.
