Fourteen-year-old Zach Hayden of North, died on Friday, Nov. 16, but thanks to quick-thinking staff at Thomas Hunter Middle School in Mathews, he was brought back to life.

Zach was doing pull-ups in the school gymnasium when he fell to the floor unconscious. He remembers nothing about it—not the fall or the pull-ups or even walking into the gym. The last thing he recalls is getting cologne out of his book bag in the hallway because he wanted to smell good. The reason he knows about the pull-ups is because his friend Michael Garrett told him.

Coach James "Hutch" Hutcheson, the school’s physical education instructor, said he was recording the pull-up scores for some of the students when he heard a thump. He couldn’t see what caused it until students ran over and shouted that Zach had fallen and needed help.

Zach wasn’t breathing when Hutcheson got to his side, but he had a pulse, so the coach quickly administered a couple of breaths and called for stude...