Qbn’s Young Citizen of the Year turns near-fatal collapse into lifesaving mission
When 16-year-old Rory Pittman arrived at the Queanbeyan YMCA last July to play basketball with his mates, he had no idea just how close the game would come to being his last.
On 29 July 2025, Rory was playing his first game of social competitive basketball at Queanbeyan Basketball Stadium when he suffered a sudden and unexplained cardiac arrest during the third quarter. Fit, healthy and with no known heart condition, he collapsed without warning.
Off-duty nurse Karen Sweeney and another parent in the crowd quickly recognised that Rory was not breathing and began CPR. With the help of other bystanders, they located and used the venue’s Automated External Defibrillator (AED), delivering a shock that restored his heart rhythm and saved his life.
Incredibly, the AED had only been installed three weeks earlier, replacing an older device that had become unusable. Without it – and without immediate CPR – Rory almost certainly would not have survived.
“The emergency room doctors all agreed that without a defib machine he wouldn’t be here,” Rory’s mum, Abby Pittman, said.
“He’s been called one hell of a lucky bastard – but to understand that luck, you have to sit with the reality that we could have lost him. So many things had to line up perfectly for his life to be saved.”
Those “things” continued in the days and weeks that followed. Rory was treated by paramedics and specialist teams at The Canberra Hospital and later Westmead Children’s Hospital in Sydney, people he now credits as part of the chain that kept him alive. And despite extensive testing, doctors were unable to identify a definitive cause.
Dad Michael Pittman and Rory with the owners of Blooms Chemist Karabar.
While at Westmead, Rory received a next-generation Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator (ICD), becoming one of the first paediatric patients in Australia to receive the device. Data from his ICD will help expand access to the technology for children in the future.
Now back at school, work and basketball, Rory has spent the last six months channelling his energy into a Street Beat fundraiser that has raised more than $6,000 to date – enough to install AEDs in Queanbeyan and Jerrabomberra, with hopes of funding a third device for Googong.
His story has already prompted action from local businesses. After hearing about Rory’s experience, Taz from Bloom’s Chemist Karabar donated an AED for the Karabar Shopping Centre, ensuring the busy retail hub is now equipped to respond to cardiac emergencies.
The Pittman family has also connected with the parents of Canberra teenager Joshua Oguns, who died after suffering cardiac arrest while playing basketball earlier in July. Joshua’s parents are now establishing a charity focused on cardiac screening for young athletes and emergency action planning – work the Pittmans say they are keen to support.
Just months after his collapse at the YMCA, Rory has been named Queanbeyan’s Young Citizen of the Year for turning his brush with death into a campaign to improve CPR awareness and expand access to defibrillators. Presented on Australia Day 2026, the award recognises his fundraising, advocacy, and work with the Heart Foundation, Westmead Children’s Hospital, and St John Ambulance – though Rory is quick to downplay the honour.
“I’m very proud to receive the award,” he said.
“But without all of those other people – and the nomination from Street Beat and the support of my school – I wouldn’t have won it.”
Looking ahead, Rory says his goal is simple.
“I’m incredibly grateful to the people at the basketball stadium who helped me when I collapsed, and to the Queanbeyan Basketball Association for making sure there was an AED at the facility, without both of those things, I wouldn’t be here today,” he said.
“Now, I just want to help get as many publicly accessible AEDs into Queanbeyan and Canberra as possible, raise awareness about sudden cardiac arrest, heart health and the importance of AEDs and CPR training, and help make my community safer.”
Fewer than 10 per cent of people survive out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, but when CPR and defibrillation occur within the first three to five minutes, survival rates increase dramatically.
If you’d like to support Rory’s efforts, you can donate to his AED fundraiser at:
https://www.streetbeat.life/fundraisers/rorypittman/nsw
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About the Author: Holly Winchester
Part Jennifer Coolidge, part Jennifer Garner (gaudy and geeky), Holly idolises Dolly Parton and Princess Di and loves NRL. When she's not creating killer content, you’ll find Holly at the Maccas drive thru getting her chai latte fix or buying 1990s memorabilia for the walls of her Googong home. Specialist subject: the Woolies carpark.
