Coppell teen credited with saving friend's life after collapse on basketball court

Heroes are often minted in moments of crisis. 

For two friends – Nasir "Nas" Brobby and Jace Giles – that moment came on a Coppell basketball court last November.

Nas, then 10, collapsed. Doctors later determined he had an undiagnosed congenital heart defect. His friend Jace immediately began CPR.

"I was panicking a lot," Jace, 13, said. "It was really scary. I tried remembering all the things I learned from the classes she put me in. And luckily, it helped because my mom was coming to pick us up."

Mother arrives and takes over CPR 

Jace's mother, Charisse Deloria, arrived, called 911, and took over chest compressions.

"That's really the main thing that was going through my mind as I was doing the CPR," Deloria said, "is that I'm not going to lose this child today. Not on my watch."

The 911 call captures the urgency. 

The dispatcher asks, "Is he still unconscious?" Deloria responds, "I don't feel air coming from his nose or mouth."

Calm dispatcher guides lifesaving steps

The voice on the line belonged to dispatcher Erin Rocha – still in training at the time. She tells Deloria, "Listen carefully, and I'll tell you how to do chest compressions, okay?" After instructing them to lay Nas flat and assuring them help was on the way, Rocha continues: "Pump the chest hard and fast! We are going to do this… count out loud so I can count with you."

Rylee DeLaGarza, the supervisor training Rocha, stood nearby.

"Erin is great because she has a calm demeanor already," DeLaGarza said. "But, yeah, the nerves still kind of get to you every once in a while, but especially when it's a kid."

Doctors credit early CPR for survival 

Doctors say there is no question that Nas survived because CPR began immediately.

"100%," said Tia Raymond, M.D. "He would not be alive if his mother hadn't made her son learn CPR. If the young man hadn't done CPR as well as the mom, if they hadn't called EMS."

Raymond, a pediatric cardiac intensive care physician at Medical City Children's Hospital, said everything fell in Nas's favor — from early CPR to rapid paramedic and surgical response.

City honors lifesaving team 

The city of Coppell is celebrating the group for their lifesaving roles and using the moment to stress the importance of CPR training.

"So, everybody needs to be ready," Raymond said. "If you go down, you want the person standing next to you to know how to do CPR. If your loved one goes down, you want to be able to save your loved one."

Jace learned CPR at the Coppell Life Safety Park after his younger sister visited on a school field trip and his mother became interested. The city‑run facility offers free field trips for PreK–12 students, teaching safety skills, fire and burn prevention, bicycle and pedestrian safety, and severe weather preparedness. Free monthly classes also teach CPR to adults.

"It's like the saying, 'better to know how to do it and not need it, than need it, and not know how to do it,'" Nas said.

A full recovery and deep gratitude 

After surgery and a hospital stay, Nas is fully recovered, saying he feels "good… like, better than before!" He's back to playing basketball – with a very good friend nearby.

Jace said he feels some typical teen embarrassment about the attention, but added that it's "amazing to have my friend still alive, you know?"

Nas's mother, Teresa Tunia, said she is still healing from the ordeal.

"It's still a bit of trauma there," Tunia said. "But every day I'm more grateful that he's made it through."

He was cleared to return to sports last month. 

"After that clearance, I cried the whole way home because it was a part of me that could let my guard down a little bit more because I'm like, 'okay, now we're kind of out of the woods.'"

Tunia said she is breathing easier now – and filled with gratitude.

"I'm forever grateful for everyone involved," Tunia said. "Like, I feel like I owe my life to everyone involved. I can say 'thank you' a million times, and it will never be enough."