LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) – A 23-year-old Texas Tech student just credits away from her bachelor\u2019s degree is fighting to recover after a terrifying incident left her in cardiac arrest last month.<\/p>\n
Brooklynn Hicks was riding home with a friend after a concert on Feb. 13 when her car stalled in standing water. As the two tried to reach safety on foot, Brooklynn walked through the water while her friend walked on a nearby sidewalk.<\/p>\n
\u201cHer friend was walking on a sidewalk that didn\u2019t have the water and Brooklynn was in the water and the further she kept going she said it\u2019s shocking. The water is shocking and she stepped on a manhole cover and the current caused her heart to stop,\u201d said Holly Hicks, Brooklynn\u2019s mother.<\/p>\n
An electrical current running through the water sent Brooklynn into cardiac arrest, a bystander pulled her from the water and performed CPR until emergency crews arrived. Brooklynn was placed on a ventilator in the burn ICU at a local hospital.<\/p>\n
Those who know Brooklynn describe her as someone whose warmth and energy are impossible to miss.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody that\u2019s met Brooklynn knows how bubbly of a person and graceful of a person she is and how much fun she is to be around and cares about others,\u201d said her boyfriend, Reed.<\/p>\n
Weeks after the incident, Brooklynn is breathing on her own, speaking and beginning to walk with assistance. Her family relocated for the meantime from Panhandle to Lubbock to remain by her side throughout her recovery.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s hard, it\u2019s way different when it\u2019s your spouse or parents. When it\u2019s your child back there it\u2019s hard to see, very hard to see,\u201d Holly said.<\/p>\n
The family has been overwhelmed by support from people they\u2019ve never met.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just amazing what strangers will do in a crisis to help you and it\u2019s people we never met and we are so grateful for all their support,\u201d Holly said.<\/p>\n
Brooklynn faces a lengthy road ahead, including intensive therapy, without health insurance. Her family says she won\u2019t face it alone. <\/p>\n