Matthew Perez, who recently turned 15, had a terrifying experience last September while attending a school event. However, thanks to a successful operation to treat a rare congenital heart issue, the Texas teen is enjoying his new age.
He told Good Morning America, "Me and my friends were playing around and I was running, but then I started to feel very tired and off. It was like, I was gonna pass out. I could hardly breathe. My hearing was kind of muffled and all I could [see] was, like, this purple kind of haze."
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As soon as the Houston ninth grader's friends realized something was really wrong, they called his mother, Arely Perez, who hurried to his school to receive the terrifying information.
After he fell, they took Perez to a local hospital before moving him to Texas Children's Hospital, where doctors diagnosed him with an abnormal aortic origin of a coronary artery, or AAOCA.
Arely told the outlet, "He is not the kid to say something's wrong with him or he feels sick, so for me to get that text saying Matthew's asking for you to come, I knew something was wrong there.
"We had no knowledge of him ever having a heart problem. Since he was born, to us, he was a healthy baby. Everything was normal up until this happened to him in September."
Dr. Silvana Molossi, medical director of the Coronary Artery Anomalies Program at Texas Children's Hospital, highlighted the severity of Matthew's condition, calling it a leading cause of sudden cardiac arrest and death in young individuals.
Molossi explained, "In Matthew's case, his left coronary artery had an abnormal origin from the right side. Matthew's heart suffered significant lack of blood flow and oxygen when he collapsed at school. If he hadn't been rushed to Texas Children's Hospital and gotten immediate treatment, he may not have survived."
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Due to the severity of his condition, Matthew was placed on an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) machine to support his heart and lungs.
In October 2024, he underwent an extensive 18-hour surgery to correct the issue by repairing his left coronary artery and reconnecting it to the correct location in the aorta.
Despite the complexity of the procedure, Matthew's recovery has been remarkable.
"He does have a graft in his artery, but everything is improving the way that it should," Arely said of her eldest son's progress. "Everybody was amazed at the hospital, like, how quickly he was healing and coming out of this situation that could have taken his life."
Now back home, Matthew is returning to activities he loves, such as playing the guitar and viola.
"I'm so grateful to be here and so grateful that I had good people in my life who were able to help me and act quickly when I needed it," Matthew remarked.
His mother hopes sharing his story will raise awareness about recognizing warning signs of potential heart conditions.
The concerned mother advised, "Look out for those signs that he said -- the blurred vision, that he can't breathe, the ear muffle. Because at the end of the day, you never know. It could be nothing, but [it could also be] signs of something [that] might not be right."