Press event to introduce L.A. marathon runner and UCLA docs, LAPD officer who saved his life

UCLA will hold a press conference to introduce 21-year-old University of Southern California student Jay Yim and the UCLA physicians and Los Angeles Police Department officer who saved his life.

 

At mile 18 of the March 21 Los Angeles Marathon, Yim collapsed in full cardiac arrest. His heart had stopped and he wasn't breathing. He received immediate on-site CPR from LAPD motorcycle officer Josh Sewell and off-duty UCLA physician Dr. Charles Chandler. At Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, Dr. Paul Vespa and colleagues put Yim into a hypothermic state, a form of induced coma that saved his life.

 

Press conference participants will include:

 

USC pre-med student who suffered cardiac arrest, and his family

 

UCLA professor of neurology and neurosurgery and medical director of UCLA's Neurointensive Care Unit

 

LAPD motorcycle officer

 

UCLA physician, clinical professor of surgery

 

11 a.m., Thursday, April 1

 

Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center Auditorium (B-130)

757 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, Calif. 90095

PHOTOS | VIDEO
B-roll footage and still shots of the patient, LAPD officer and UCLA doctors are available through media contacts.

 

At UCLA, Yim was first treated in the emergency room, then in the Neurointensive Care Unit, where he was placed into a state known as therapeutic hypothermia, a relatively new medical treatment that lowers a patient's body temperature in order to help reduce the risk of injury to tissue following a heart attack. Yim was moved out of intensive care and it's anticipated that he will be released from the hospital in the next few days to begin rehabilitation. He's in good condition and is doing fine.

 

Rachel Champeau, Roxanne Moster and Mark Wheeler, UCLA Health Sciences Media Relations, 310-794-0777

 

 

Oversized media trucks: Parking for oversized media trucks only is available along the southbound side of Westwood Boulevard, between Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center and the UCLA Medical Plaza buildings. A parking attendant will help direct you.

 

Passenger vehicles: Passenger vehicles must park at 200 Medical Plaza, accessed by making the first left after Le Conte Avenue when traveling northbound on Westwood Boulevard. Follow the ramp to the underground parking structure and obtain a parking pass at the gate. We will give you parking validation at the press check-in.