CLEVELAND — What started off as an exciting evening for NaSheema Anderson as she watched her son, Zaharius Hillmon, play high school basketball for the first time quickly turned into her worst nightmare.
“Zaharius was having what he thought was a seizure,” said Anderson.
Anderson told News 5’s Remi Murrey she immediately ran to her son’s rescue.
“We didn’t actually see it happen. He went into the locker room at halftime and he turned to one of his teammates and he said I don’t, and he got ready to say feel good and then he passed out,” said Anderson.
Not knowing if Hillmon would survive once she learned he suffered from a cardiac arrest, Anderson watched her son lay unconscious in a hospital bed.
“I just held his hand. We just prayed over him. We prayed with each other,” said Anderson.
Two days later, Anderson says her son woke up and from that moment, she said he went through a lot, including open heart surgery.
Now nearly two and a half years later, Hillmon is back and playing college basketball.
“Most people thought I would have given up. Nobody thought I'd be able to do it again; so just being able to prove everybody wrong and proven those right, who thought that I would be here at this point is just amazing at this point,” said Hillmon.
“To see him thrive the way that he is, gives me joy and purpose,” said Anderson.
Currently, the 2023 Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics report more than 356,000 people have suffered from out of hospital cardiac arrest, or OHCA.
You may remember LeBron James’ son Bronny suffered from cardiac arrestback in July.
Now, a University of Minnesota Duluth player has died after experiencing the same heart condition.
Because of this, ZeeBee’s Heartsavers hopes to be a bridge in Northeast Ohio to save people’s lives.
“I didn’t think that my purpose would come out of him going into cardiac arrest. However, ZeeBee has taken his situation and lived,” said Adjoni Williams, ZeeBee’s Heartsavers Owner and ZeeBee’s Heart Foundation Founder.
Williams is his aunt, and she told News 5 it wasn't until the moment her nephew almost lost his life, that she learned the meaning of hers.
“I remember that day begging for his life to come back,” said Williams.
Now, she’s turning pain into purpose by teaching basic life support and first aid skills to almost 1300 people.
“CPR was something that I didn’t care about and now today that is my passion, that is my purpose, and I will not let it go,” said Williams.
For more information on ZeeBee’s Heartsavers, click here.
