Student Recovers from Injury at UT vs. UGA Football Game

A University of Texas student is recovering after a severe injury sustained during the UT vs. University of Georgia football game on Oct. 19.

Knox Vacek’s last memory from that day is of students throwing bottles onto the field in protest of a controversial referee call. After the call was reversed, Vacek jumped on the bleachers in celebration but slipped, hitting his head- a fall that nearly cost him his life.

“When he fell. He fell so hard that he seized. He was convulsing and he went into cardiac arrest,” said his mother, Vanessa Vacek.

Friends called 911 and attempted CPR but stopped, worried they were doing it wrong and making his condition worse. Moments later, the EMS stationed on the field climbed into the stands to start saving Knox’s life.

“Thankfully, we were able to get the EMTs and the nurses that were down on the field because he was only four rows up… They were able to get to him and bring him down to their area of the stadium and work on him. They did CPR and shocked his heart literally for six minutes because he didn’t have a pulse at all,” Vacek said.

Knox was rushed to Dell Seton Medical Center, with friends and family trailing closely behind.

“We got several calls from people that were like, “Hey, he’s being rushed to Dell Seton Medical Center and going into ICU.” So we drove, like, 100 miles an hour to get to Austin,” Vacek said, “When we got there, there were several people in the waiting room, a lot of his friends that were there at the game with him, and parents that were at the game.”

When they got there, his trajectory didn’t look promising.

“I went up to the room, and he was intubated and had, you know, all these tubes in him, and they were doing all these tests on his heart, on his brain,” Vacek said.

Knox remained unconscious in the ICU for three days. When he woke up, his family was overjoyed, but Knox was overwhelmed with confusion over what happened.

He was transferred to the cardiac unit of Ascension Seton Hospital. His toxicology report was negative and the doctors didn’t find anything wrong with his heart.

“His heart is fine. He ended up getting a defibrillator,” Vacek said, “The doctors said, This is like a life insurance policy. So, if this were ever to happen again, it would shock your heart, and if you were alone, you wouldn’t die.”

Vacek said she hopes that this never happens again to Knox or any other student. As Knox continues to focus on rest and recovery, Vacek is turning to advocacy. Her goal is to teach students on campus how to perform CPR.

“When I was talking to the EMT, they told us that any CPR is better than nothing, you know,” Vacek said, “But then I started thinking of myself. I took CPR, I think, in middle school. If somebody was in cardiac arrest I wouldn’t know really how to properly do CPR.”

This unexpected medical emergency has left the Vacek family facing mounting medical bills.  While Vacek said her son’s health remains her number one priority, she admitted that the financial strain is overwhelming.

The family has launched a GoFundMe campaign to help cover the costs. Knox plans to return to campus full-time next semester.