‘God guided those who helped’: Natchez teen recovering after cardiac event at football game

Published 2:03 pm Monday, September 25, 2023

By Stacy Graning

Wesley Simpson, Alex Monogan and Peyton Covington visit with Aiden Huff, who suffered cardiac arrest at a football game on Friday. All four boys are juniors at Cathedral High School. (submitted photo)
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Keith and Angie Huff are convinced “God guided those who helped” save their son’s life at a football game on Friday.

Their son Aiden, a student at Cathedral School, was in the stands at Parklane Academy in McComb watching the Green Wave play when he experienced a cardiac emergency.

He collapsed in the stands, and his heart stopped.

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“So many things went exactly as they should for Aiden to receive the care he needed exactly when he needed it; we are convinced that God guided those who helped even before Aiden collapsed,” Keith Huff said. “The response by Parklane and Cathedral fans, medical professionals and emergency workers was excellent. Our family has been overwhelmed by the care and support from both communities.”

Fans and medical professionals immediately began chest compressions and employed an AED device to help restart Aiden’s heart. He was taken to Southwest Mississippi Regional Medical Center in McComb, where he was stabilized and then transferred to the University of Mississippi Medical Center.

“Even when everything goes right like it did last night, I think it must be extremely rare for anyone to survive an event like that and recover to the extent Aiden has less than 24 hours later,” he wrote on social media Saturday. “I’m overwhelmed by that reality as well. Please keep praying for Aiden, just as you have. It’s clear that God is making things happen for this young man.”

Aiden’s parents, Keith and Angie, were not at the game and endured an agonizing drive to get to their son.

“Many of you know better than we do just what he went through because you witnessed it firsthand,” Keith Huff wrote on Facebook Saturday. “We were at home when his heart stopped and on the road when it restarted.
“Throughout the day, we’ve gotten a clearer picture of just how heroically people worked to revive our son. I can never repay them for what they did! I don’t know all the names, but I know a few. I know these people did exactly what needed to be done at exactly the right time. I’m overwhelmed by that reality.
“I keep thinking what could have been the outcome if his heart had stopped somewhere else other than the football stadium … maybe at the gym where he works out after school or at home before he left to drive to the game or on the drive to the stadium? Mercifully, it happened when and where it did. It happened among people who already knew and loved Aiden. People who kept working on him for about 10 minutes after his heart stopped beating who were surrounded by hundreds of people praying for him! I believe those who prayed were doing exactly what they needed to do at exactly the right time as well, and I likewise owe them a debt I can never repay.”
Keith Huff said the cause for the event seems to be related to an existing heart condition.  “Aiden is expected to make a full recovery and should return home by the end of the week following some medical procedures,” he said on Monday.
Play was suspended in the game after the incident, with less than four minutes left in the third quarter. Parklane won, 49-14.

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