Former Grand Slam doubles champion Murphy Jensen hopes to help shut out sudden cardiac death Sunday, April 10, at the 17th annual Gootter Grand Slam and Gala at the Westin La Paloma Resort & Spa, 3800 E. Sunrise Drive.
Jensen, who won the 1993 French Open Doubles title with his brother, Luke, has a vested interest: On Oct. 29, 2021, he survived sudden cardiac arrest with the help of an automated external defibrillator during a tennis exhibition in Colorado Springs.
Coincidentally, the brothers have been longtime supporters of the Steven M. Gootter Foundation’s mission to defeat sudden cardiac death through awareness, education, research and the distribution of more than 400 defibrillators in Pima County.
“I can’t wait to kiss and hug these beautiful people who are doing this beautiful service that saved my life and the lives of so many others. The irony is that I have been a participant in this event for 10 years. If that is not a coincidence, I don’t know what is,” said Murphy, who has not only played in Gootter Grand Slam Exhibitions but assisted with chest-compression only CPR and defibrillator demonstrations at the events.
Murphy credits those techniques for enabling him to survive sudden cardiac arrest when he was in the “best shape” of his life.
“If this could happen to me, this could happen to anyone. This was a struck-by-lightning moment. There was no, ‘Hey, I feel lousy or I have shortness of breath or tingling in my hands.’ The lights went off and my heart just stopped. I fell backward like a towering tree and cracked my head on the tennis court and suffered multiple skull fractures,” Murphy said.
Though he has no memories from that day, Murphy has pieced together the story from the accounts of others: Bystanders immediately administered CPR and Luke ran to get a defibrillator. Murphy was shocked four times at the venue and twice more in the ambulance. His heartbeat had stabilized by the time he reached the hospital, where he was placed in an induced coma due to concerns about possible brain damage. He emerged from the coma on Nov. 4 and has spent the last four months recovering.
“My heart had stopped for 17 to 18 minutes. By the grace of God and the help of incredible medical professionals, I am able to able to walk again, think again, speak again and play tennis. I am able to be a dad, a father, a husband and a brother with all of my faculties working. I have been graced to see another day and will damned if I won’t make the most of every single breath of air I get to take and be grateful,” Murphy said.
Ultimately, Murphy wants to pay the “miracle” of survival forward. He is excited to participate with Luke in the upcoming Gootter Grand Slam Exhibition against the Bryan Brothers, to lend his expertise to the VIP Fantasy Tennis Clinic and to speak about his experience with sudden cardiac arrest.
“Cardiac arrest is something that affects whole families, not just the person who has the arrest. We all experience trauma from this in our own way, and it serves me to serve others through my personal recovery. I would like AEDs at every tennis court and at every junior and adult tennis tournament in the United States so they are safe environments. I can start with tennis because that is what I know,” said Murphy.
Murphy’s goals align with those of the Gootter Foundation, according to Andrew Messing, president of the nonprofit.
The foundation is working to distribute AEDs to places where people work, worship and play — including schools and youth organized sports teams — and to the Tucson and Oro Valley police departments. It has supplied 120 patrol cars with the devices to date.
“The incidence of COVID-related cardiomyopathy, especially in young men, has made the presence of AEDs even more critical. Our mantra is, ‘AEDs should be as common as fire extinguishers. Hopefully you will never need to use one, but you know it is there in case it is necessary,’” said Messing.
