DOUGLAS COUNTY, Colo. — Usually, mid-August is a time of year full of emotions for teenagers as it signals the end of summer and the start of a new school year.
For Larkspur's Keton Schierenberg, this August saw him experience a life event that has altered the course of his life forever.
Watch this story in the video player below:
Keton doesn't remember much from that day, but it started at the Park Meadows Mall in Lone Tree.
Keton was shopping for back-to-school shoes with his mom and a friend. They were on their way to lunch, and that's when everything changed.
"When it happened to me, there's a lot thing going to my head," Keton recalled. "I stand up, and I'm just suddenly just like acting very strange. I was red, and then I fall down. I was, like, pulsating a lot. It was like very bad."
Passing out in the middle of the mall food court, Lone Tree Police Officers Casey Swatlowski and Carrie Whitus say that while rushing through the crowd, they immediately knew things were not good.
"We heard possible heart attack, possible seizure, is turning blue, and that's when we start running because every second matters," Swatlowski described.
"You don't even really have time to think about what you're going to do when you're there," Whitus added. "You have to get there as quickly as you can, and then assess it once you're on scene."
After being rushed to the hospital, Keton learned he had a rare gene trait known as RYR2, which controls how the heart handles calcium; it has its largest impact among people ages 11-17, without them knowing, which was the case for Keton.
"I've been healthy; I was always a healthy kid," Keton told Denver7's Douglas County Reporter Tyler Melito. "I did wrestling, I did track. I thought, like, my health was normal. I thought none of this was gonna ever happen; I thought having a heart attack would never happen, to be honest with you."
Keton shared with Melito that he spent weeks in the hospital, and that this medical experience has given him a new perspective on life.
"I was again so close to death. If the police officers weren't here, or if my mom wasn't, or if my friend wasn't, I don't think I would really not be here at all today," Keton said. "I wasn't always happy about myself. I was super depressed sometimes. I didn't like how I changed, or I didn't like how I look — I didn't like anything about myself. But I think when this happened, I started liking myself."
Keton is now sharing his message with his community.
"I'll definitely say get checked," Keton shared. "If you have the kind of symptoms I'm saying, you should tell one of your parents about this. When you get checked out and it says you're positive, then you know you can play it safe."
