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9-1-1: A Teenager Talks About A Health Scare

Scott Lyttle
Basim Blunt
/
WYSO
Scott Lyttle

Health and strength seem like a given when we're young. And so, for a teenager to have a near death story is somewhat unusual. When I met Scott Lyttle at a meeting of our radio class, he told me he was 19 years old, and I wanted to know why he was still in high school. He shared the story of his lost year.

I’m Scott Lyttle, a 19- year old that goes to Ponitz. I also like to draw.  I want to tell you a story about the day my life almost changed last year. I woke up, got ready for school. I got to school and had a normal day until I got to the gym.

Me and Quincy started playing pickleball using wooden rackets. Quincy accidentally hit in me in the stomach. I felt okay for about 5 seconds, then I dropped to the floor in pain. I got up went to the bathroom to put water on my face. It still didn’t work so I laid down on the ground.  I was bleeding from the inside of my stomach from the blow. It turns out I had a cyst on my liver that was growing.

A student came in the bathroom and then went to go get help. They called my teacher at the time, Ms.Wilson. She called my mom, and my mom called the ambulance.

"I came up to the school to see what was going on," says my mom. "The moment I saw you, I knew you were in a desperate situation. You were starting to lose your color a little bit. You kept complaining that you couldn't breathe...you couldn't breathe."

They came and put me on a stretcher took me to the hospital.

"You know I kept talking to you and doing everything that I could to keep you alert. Because I was afraid, that if you would of went to sleep, that would of been it," says my mom.

The doctor told me that if I passed out anywhere else, I could have died.

"We probably sat - me, your dad, and your grandmom  - stayed in the waiting room while you were surgery, and the surgeon came out and told us that they had to ressusitate you three times," says my mom. "It was a very scary time. I know I stayed there with you several days until I got a sense of security about the whole situation until it got to the point that it was like 'I can't do make anything happen with me being here and I should go home and get some rest.'"

My mom said they had me hooked up to equipment to keep me alive. I was in a coma for three days. One night while in I.C.U., I had a dream that I saw my grandma, who passed away when I was 12. She told me to keep pushing on.

"A cyst on the liver is something that can go so undetected, it's really scary. One of the things that you had experienced due to your liver rupturing is that your intestines were starting to fill up with blood. I'm so thankful that in the midst of all of this, you only suffered from a minor tear and they were able to go in there and fix it and you've been fine ever since," says my mom.

Let's just say your friend is in pain and you have to call the ambulance, or you're in the hospital - you should know how to handle that; you should be calm. You should be able to help your friend get through the situation. I found out that life is precious, and you should never take life for granted at all.​

Scott Lyttle is a senior at Ponitz CTC High School. Special Thanks to Ponitz Radio media arts instructors Joanne Viskup and Jeffrey Crowell and to Katie Davis. Learn more at the school's website: http://ponitzctc.org/

Dayton Youth Radio is supported by the Virginia W. Kettering Foundation and the Ohio Arts Council

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