ADAMS TWP — Every student in fifth through 12th grade in the Mars School District will be trained in basic CPR within the next week.

The kickoff assembly for the program, the first in the area, was Wednesday morning in the high school auditorium.

Funded by the Passavant Hospital Foundation, the school district teamed with the American Heart Association to train more than 300 staff members in hands-only cardiopulmonary resuscitation during two in-service days in late August.

Those teachers in the next week will train every student in the district from fifth-graders at the Centennial School to seniors at the high school.

The main reason to extend the program to Centennial School students is the survival story of Christine Valenta, a Mars School Board member.

Valenta told the high school students in the auditorium Wednesday that June 6, 2015, started out like any normal day, with her and her son, Nicholas, making a shopping trip.

In the afternoon as they stood in a checkout line, Valenta passed out.

“As I lay motionless on the floor, Nicholas was able to recognize that I had stopped breathing,” Valenta said.

The youngster, then 14, began using the CPR techniques he had learned two weeks earlier at Quality EMS in Adams Township. He continued compressions on his mother until Quality EMS arrived and took over.

Paramedics, and then doctors and nurses, continued CPR and other measures to bring life back to Valenta.

“CPR was performed for 46 minutes until I started breathing on my own,” Valenta said.

After being flown to UPMC-Presbyterian Hospital in Pittsburgh, Valenta was placed into an induced coma, cool water was circulated around her brain, her body temperature was reduced to 86 degrees, a tracheotomy and feeding tube were started and a hole was drilled in her skull to determine the pressure in her head.

Despite all the medical attention Valenta received in the intensive care unit, her heart stopped two more times, and she suffered two strokes. A blood clot formed in each foot, and medicine was able to dissolve only one clot.

Valenta has undergone three surgeries since her body’s electrical system regulating the heart malfunctioned and caused the event, including one procedure to remove a foot and another to install a pacemaker.

Nicholas, his father and sister were told by doctors that once Valenta woke up, she could have brain damage or paralysis because of the extended amount of time she went without breathing or a heartbeat after collapsing.

“I’m sharing this so you have an understanding that the odds of me recovering were extremely, extremely low,” Valenta said.

But had Nicholas not started CPR and continued the flow of oxygenated blood to her brain and organs, she likely would not have survived.

“CPR dramatically increases the chance of survival,” Valenta said.

While she remained in the induced coma, her family prepared for the worst once she regained consciousness. But that mindset greatly upset Nicholas.

“He never lost hope for my recovery,” Valenta said. “He knows I am a fighter.”

Miraculously, Valenta awoke after 60 days in the coma and was able to speak and move. She said doctors cannot explain why the electrical impulses in her heart caused it to stop.

“Fifteen months after my incident, I am able to stand before you unassisted,” Valenta said. “I’m still recovering, but I am forever thankful to Nicholas for playing a critical role in my being able to be alive.”

She told the students in the assembly that inevitably, at some point in their lives, they will find themselves in a position to administer CPR.

“As a responsible member of society, you must always be prepared to help,” Valenta said.

Rachel Betta of the American Heart Association told the assembly her organization is strenuously urging state legislators to enact law that would mandate CPR instruction in school curriculums.

“So the Mars School District is leaps and bounds ahead of the rest of the state,” she said.

At the assembly, 12 high school students sat behind American Heart Association resuscitation dummies.

An association instructor told them to link one hand on top of the other, place the heel of their lower hand in the center of the dummy’s chest, and push down at least two inches to the tune of “Staying Alive” by the Bee Gees.

Claire Staresinic, a Mars senior, was one of the students who worked on a dummy before her entire school.

“It’s best when everyone has knowledge because the more you know, the better off you are,” she said.

Staresinic was also moved by Valenta’s story.

“I’ve always found her very inspiring,” she said of Valenta. “I’m really excited she’s doing this for us.”

Stephanie Cimini, a sophomore who attended the assembly, appreciates her school district providing CPR training to students.

“It’s very important to learn because any time anyone can go down and you need to know all the stuff to save them,” she said.

Her classmate Katrina Johansson said it was helpful to have the visual of the 12 students performing CPR on the dummies on stage.

“It really opened my eyes to realize how effective you have to be to save a life,” Johansson said.

Andrew Pierre, a sophomore who worked on a dummy at the assembly, was surprised at how exhausting CPR compressions can be.

“But it’s important to know, so we will be prepared for anything that happens,” Pierre said.

Mars’ Assistant Superintendent, Elizabeth McMahon, coordinated the program for Mars. She said she realized CPR is a life skill only after hearing Valenta’s story.

“The students can take that learning home and talk about it at the dinner table,” McMahon said. “I’m excited that we’re doing it.”

More information on taking a CPR class is available at www.cpr.heart.org.