MARCH 6, 2024, 5:35 a.m.

Freshman swimmer Rylee Lavender goes into cardiac arrest.

“It all happened so quickly; it really freaked me out,” junior Hannah Morrison said. 

APRIL 10, 2025, 6:30 p.m.

Sophomore Rylee Lavender swims in her first high school swim meet while her team, coaches, teachers, parents and fans cheer her on. 

“Once I finished, I just started crying. I was so overjoyed that I just sobbed,” Lavender said. 

Over the past 13 months, sophomore Rylee Lavender’s life has been a rollercoaster of health problems and the battle to get back to a normal life. 

MARCH 6, 2024, 5:15 a.m.: Just a normal day

March 6 was a normal morning practice with the Panthers swim team that was upended by Lavender’s cardiac arrest and seizure.

Junior McKynzie Arrington realized something was wrong and quickly went into Lavender’s lane to check on her. 

“I kept asking her, ‘are you OK?’ and ‘Rylee, Rylee!’ Then Alix comes and takes her goggles and cap off, then I screamed for (coach Jimmy) Adams,” Arrington said. 

“(Lavender) started foaming at the mouth and she stopped moving. Everything stopped.”

Former DHS swimmer Isaac Meek, who was the lifeguard on duty, and then-senior Tori Rogers realized the situation and took action. 

“I was sitting there, watching my TV show in the corner,” said team manager Owen King, then a junior. “Suddenly, I heard Isaac yell at me to grab a backboard. I ran over, grabbed the backboard, took the head stabilizers off, put it in and we extricated.”

Seizures had happened previously, so practice continued as usual.

But Lavender did not have a normal seizure. 

“We’ve dealt with (seizures) before,” Adams said. ”It’s why I didn’t clear the pool. That’s now one of my biggest regrets of coaching.

“I just wish I got (the swimmers) out of there sooner. I was pretty busy getting a hold of parents and calling 911. I didn’t have a lot of time to react; I just did it without thinking.” 

A doctor was swimming in the public lane and went to check on the situation. 

“He found no pulse, so we started compressions and then we did AED (Automated External Defibrillator). EMS arrived and took over care,” King said. 

MARCH 6, 6:10 a.m.: Telling the family

Thirty-five minutes after the cardiac arrest, police arrived at her family’s home.

“When the cop showed up to my door knocking loudly, I wasn’t sure what to think. He told me she had a seizure, and I couldn’t comprehend what he was saying,” said Jennifer Lavender, Rylee’s mom. “My whole body was shaking because I did not know what to do. I didn’t know the severity of the situation. 

“She was a healthy 15-year-old girl and I never in my life thought something like this would happen… We had several family members pass away in the months leading up to her accident, and I was not ready to lose my daughter, too.”

MARCH 7, 2024, 2 a.m.: Endless doctor visits

Lavender wakes up.

“I couldn’t even remember much of that practice,” she said. “All I can remember is waking up, getting dressed, maybe eating something, getting to the car, getting to the light right by the middle school and then I don’t remember anything else after that until I woke up in the hospital.”

Over the past year, Lavender had more than 15 appointments. During the appointments, they checked her vitals, X-rayed her heart and even made her run on a treadmill to see how her heart reacted.

Although she no longer goes to monthly appointments, Lavender will see a doctor once every six months. 

“I had an MRI twice. I’ve had a few surgeries. I had one called catheterization. They went through an artery through my leg all the way up to my heart,” Lavender said. “They wanted to see if they could put me into cardiac arrest and then some sort of wrong heartbeat to go with it.”

After testing, the doctors found out that they could put Lavender into cardiac arrest and an irregular heartbeat. As a result, Lavender had her second surgery to implant a Cardioverter-Defibrillator (ICD).

Jennifer Lavender could only think of the worst to come after previous surgeries. 

“While she was in surgery, it was a little nerve-wrecking,” she said. “Just waiting for them to come and tell me it was all done.

“It seemed like every time she had an appointment, stress test or procedure, we always got bad news. So I sat there waiting for them to come tell me something, but once it was done, the doctor came out and talked to me and told me it all went perfectly. 

“I cried.”

The surgery was successful. Rylee Lavender was cleared to swim again.

MARCH 24, 2025, 3:30 p.m.: Back into the pool

After more than a year, Lavender swam her first practice.

“I’m really happy, don’t get me wrong, but those morning practices are still getting to me a little emotionally,” Lavender said. 

Even after her incident, Lavender continued to be a part of the team.

Lavender became a swim manager and joined the team at swim meets to help with making sure swimmers were doing what they’re supposed to; she timed lanes and got splits for relays.

APRIL 10, 2025, 6:30 p.m.: First high school meet

Lavender swims the 50 free with her teammates gathered around the other side of the pool to cheer her on with posters they made.

“I was a little nervous just simply because of what happened. It was exciting to see her swim and how excited she was,” junior Scarlett Powell said. 

Lavender has now continued to swim at practices and meets, setting personal bests in the 50-yard freestyle and the 100 breaststroke. 

She laughs and chats with teammates, and even handles the pressure to continue to perform at a high level. She perseveres through every tough challenge that gets thrown at her. 

“I’m very proud of her for getting back to it – not quitting,” Jennifer Lavender said.