A Teen’s Quick Thinking Saves Her Sister’s Life
Nevaeh Money feared the worst when her sister stopped breathing. In April, the 15-year-old saw her sister, Makia Davis, in the throes of a seizure on their living room floor. Nevaeh alerted their mother, Laquita Jackson, and their brother, and she called 911.
Fearing her eldest daughter was dead, Jackson tried to give her CPR. Nevaeh checked Makia’s pulse and airway. There was no beat beneath her skin. The unconscious Makia was going into cardiac arrest, Nevaeh recalled.
“In that moment, I sort of blanked out everything,” Nevaeh said.
Nevaeh made sure her sister’s body was flat. She pushed compressions into her sister’s chest to provide oxygen to her brain. She stayed by Makia’s side as the paramedics arrived. They got a pulse before they transported Makia to the hospital, where she regained her ability to breathe.
“I wasn’t thinking of what to do, how to do it,” Nevaeh said, “I just did it, because I knew I didn’t have time to think. … I was trying not to cry. I was trying not to scream.”
Nevaeh Money, 15, and sister Makia Davis, 16, sit on a park bench for an interview with the Dallas Morning News near Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge on July 17, 2025 in Dallas.
Angela Piazza / Staff Photographer
The Importance of Early Health Care Education
Educators from Nevaeh’s school, the Uplift Heights Healthcare Institute, and officials from Baylor Scott & White Health say the rising sophomore’s actions illustrate how providing early health care education to aspiring medical students creates first responders in families and neighborhoods, providing community benefits long before students enter the workforce.
The hands-on programs transform students from passive learners into confident young professionals, and abstract classroom lessons become practical skills, according to officials from Uplift and Baylor Scott & White Health. The training extends beyond career preparation, giving students a sense of purpose in community service, officials say.
When young people like Nevaeh master these techniques, officials say these young people develop the competence and confidence to act in critical moments, knowing they possess the knowledge to make a meaningful difference when it matters most.
A Family’s Gratitude
Makia, 16, called the incident a “blur” because she doesn’t remember having the seizure. But she said she’s impressed with her sister’s abilities.
“If it wasn’t for my sister saving my life, I probably would’ve had a funeral by now,” Makia said.
Jackson says she’s always wanted her children to become a lawyer, a law enforcement official and a health care professional. The incident brought their family closer together and made them more alert and cautious about each other’s well-being, she said.
Laquita Jackson, right, speaks to daughter Makia Davis, 16, during an interview with the Dallas Morning News at a park near Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge on July 17, 2025 in Dallas.
Angela Piazza / Staff Photographer
The Power of Health Care Education
With the incident behind them, the family is now using the experience to urge people to learn more skills to help their loved ones – whether it’s CPR, the Heimlich maneuver, or how to use an EpiPen, to name a few.
“If you can learn something simple … just do it, because you never know when you may need it,” said Jackson, who called Nevaeh’s schooling “one of the best things to happen” to their family.
Health Care High School
Nevaeh is one of the first 161 9th graders who enrolled at the Uplift Heights Healthcare Institute. The students began their training, which included CPR, as middle school graduates at the Baylor Scott & White Health administrative building.
When the Uplift Education charter school network opened the health care-focused high school in August 2024, they aspired to create future professionals. But the experts involved say Nevaeh’s courageous split-second actions transcend typical teenage achievements, considering she only began acquiring these skills last May.
Bloomberg Philanthropies selected Uplift Education and health care provider Baylor Scott & White Health as one of the 10 education and health care partners nationwide to receive a $14.9 million grant. Their partnership resulted in the Uplift Heights Healthcare Institute, housed in the Hamon Foundation building in West Dallas.
