Everybody that I've talked to—all the paramedics, doctors, and cardiologists—have said that it’s a miracle.
For more than 17 years, Farris Child has been an essential cornerstone at BYU’s Life Sciences Advisement Center, meeting with thousands of life sciences students and participating in over 35,000 advisement appointments. “It’s very rewarding for me when a student shares how our meeting was helpful, or reduced their stress, or gave them hope,” Child shares warmly. As one of the center’s supervisors, Child is able to personally mentor a dedicated team (including both student associates and full-time advisors) as they strive to best meet the needs of the life science students.
After years of guiding others through their own challenges, on August 24, 2024, Farris Child found himself facing an unexpected one of his own. Child was attending his son’s cross country meet at Spanish Fork Sports Park, cheering from the sidelines as his son hurtled through the last hundred yards and approached the finish line. Without warning, Child lost consciousness. It wasn’t until days later, lying in a hospital bed surrounded by his family, that Child pieced together what had happened: he had collapsed just steps from the finish line, gone into cardiac arrest, and been brought back to life by a sequence of miracles orchestrated by the people around him.
Within thirty seconds of Child’s collapse PJ Merrill and Traven Elquist, two Spanish Fork High School juniors trained in CPR and first aid, raced over to him and immediately began chest compressions. One of the young men called 911, while two athletic trainers secured the scene and were able to use a defibrillator to restart Child’s heart. “They said they had to use it on me five times,” Child recalls. One of the athletic trainers who operated the defibrillator was Rory Eyring, who Child had mentored at BYU. Once the paramedics arrived, Child was transported to St. Mark’s Hospital, where doctors performed quintuple bypass surgery and saved his life.
Though the road to recovery was a long and arduous one, by late October Child returned to work at the Life Sciences Advisement Center full-time. Child feels buoyed up by the outpouring of miracles that has accompanied this painful experience. "Everybody that I've talked to—all the paramedics, doctors, and cardiologists—have said that it’s a miracle,” Child shares.
Perhaps even more miraculous still, Child’s work for the Life Sciences Advisement Center may have also played a role in his survival. Over the course of his almost eighteen-year-long career, Child has shaped and guided student lives, connecting them with the resources they need to realize their academic goals. One of those students was Rory Eyring, now an athletic trainer working at Spanish Fork High School. It was Rory who taught PJ Merrill and Traven Elquist how to perform the CPR that would later save Child’s life. “I’m glad that the many hours of preparation my students put in paid off in the way it did,” Eyring shares. “Today, a family has a husband and father. There’s no better outcome than that.”
This close connection between Child’s life work and the extraordinary circumstances of his survival seems more than coincidental. Reflecting on his second chance, Child has been deeply moved by the impact of those who helped save him. “I feel like I’m on ‘Lazarus time,’” Child shares with a smile. “Just like Lazarus, I was miraculously saved, and now who knows how much longer I'll be around for. The question I keep asking myself is: what am I going to do with my life until it's time for me to be called home?”
This experience has reinforced Child’s belief in the power of Christlike community and the interconnectedness of our lives. At BYU, students are taught to lift one another and embrace their unique opportunities to serve, both in their personal and professional lives. Child’s story embodies these values: his lifelong commitment to mentoring students planted seeds of knowledge and preparation that ultimately blossomed into a life-saving act of service.