Girl, 5, helped save mom after collapse
Local woman learns of heart condition; now has message for others
BY VINCENT TODARO Staff Writer

ERIC SUCAR staff Mercedeh Sampson at home in East Brunswick with her children, Sophia and Josef. Sophia, 5, got her mom help after Mercedeh collapsed last month.

EAST BRUNSWICK - The actions of a quick-thinking 5-year-old girl led to her mother's rescue and the discovery of a dangerous underlying health problem.

Sophia Sampson was able to help save her mother, Mercedeh, 35, a seemingly healthy mother of two and a teacher at East Brunswick High School, one November day when Mercedeh walked into her daughter's room and collapsed.

Seeing that her mother was unable to move or speak, Sophia went and got her grandmother, who also lives at the family's township home. They tried to move Mercedeh, and then called a friend, who told Sophia to dial 911. Mercedeh's mother, who has Alzheimer's disease, was unable to call for help. Sophia had learned to dial for help and take emergency steps at school in East Brunswick.

Sophia called 911 and gave her address so that emergency personnel could respond, which they did "in a flash," the family recalled.

"I was hysterical, I could not move," Mercedeh said.

Mercedeh was taken to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, New Brunswick, where she was given numerous tests. Even after being taken to the hospital, she still was not able to move for number of hours, she said.

Doctors originally tested her for a brain problem, but all results came back negative. When doctors learned of the history of coronary heart disease in her family, they began to test for a heart ailment, and it was then that they learned the cause of her spell.

Mercedeh, doctors would discover, had two conditions that caused her collapse - neurocardiogenic syncope, which usually is not considered serious, and coronary heart disease, which is.

Mercedeh, who had previously suffered no symptoms of either problem, now wants to spread the word on how coronary heart disease can be a silent killer, especially for women.

She said that battling the syncope is a matter of exercise, diet and other steps. The most serious part of syncope is that it could cause people to pass out and hit their head, she said. Passing out is actually the body's defense mechanism to get the blood flowing again.

Fighting coronary heart disease is tougher, and requires a lifestyle change to reduce the stress that contributes to the condition. Stress is considered the number one cause of the ailment.

Doctors told Mercedeh that the disease already caused some damage to her heart, but that she was lucky she had the spell; otherwise, the condition may have gone undiagnosed and caused greater damage. Coronary heart disease is particularly insidious because it can be unnoticeable. Mercedeh said she does not have high cholesterol, and at 5 feet 6 inches and 120 pounds, is not overweight.

But doctors informed Mercedeh that stress causes cortisol to be released, which can lead to an artery becoming clogged.

Aside from stress, smoking can also play a major role. Mercedeh smoked when she was younger, but not heavily.

She said the stress of holding a fulltime job and being a single mother raising two children, as well as caring for her mother, contributed to the heart ailment. She noted that she is also a perfectionist.

Now she has been told to use yoga and other forms of exercise to combat the stress. She was also told to take baby aspirin each day to thin her blood.

Mercedeh returned to work Dec. 5, exactly one month after the incident.

In addition to changing her own life, she now also wants to help change others' lives. She urged stressed-out women not to be afraid to ask for help from others, noting that her neighbor helps her, as does her ex-husband.

"I am a giver, I love people," Mercedeh said. "But I need to learn it's also good to ask for help at a time of weakness."

Mercedeh, who is a runner, said she plans to take part in the next New York City Marathon as a way of raising money for women with heart disease.

Sophia, she said, was "very scared at first," and it was tough for her children, including her son Josef, to see her at the hospital. However, as Josef told his little sister, she is a "hero" for knowing how handle the 911 call and making sure responders came to the house.

Mercedeh will never forget the potentially lifesaving role her young daughter played.

"I'm the luckiest person alive," she said.