By Suzie Ziegler
WAILUKU, Hawaii — A Maui police recruit is home recovering after she suffered heatstroke last month during training and fell into a coma.
“It’s training for police. It’s not easy. But I’ve been an athlete my entire life,” Alexa Jacobs told Hawaii News Now on Wednesday. “I’ve pushed my body to the limit multiple times. I didn’t think that would happen.”
In her first interview since awakening from the coma, Jacobs said she was running back to headquarters when she passed out. It was a hot and sunny day with no wind, Jacobs recalled.
“We were in the push-up position and I remember saying to myself, ‘Just hang on for one more second,’” she said.
Jacobs, 27, was rushed to a local hospital before she was flown to Honolulu for further treatment. Her body temperature had reached 107 degrees before she fell into a coma, according to the report.
“107 is probably the highest I’ve seen in my career,” said Dr. Michael Shea, the director of a Maui hospital. Shea says Jacobs’ organs started failing. At one point, Jacobs was on a liver transplant list.
“From the doctors it was worse and worse and worse news,” said Jacobs’ father, Brian.
Then, a few days later, Jacobs woke up.
“Alexa is awake!” a friend wrote on Jacobs’ GoFundMe page on Feb. 10. “Today was the greatest gift we could have asked for.”
Jacobs remains on dialysis three times a week but says she still wants to be a police officer, according to the report. She thanked her family, the Maui Police Department and the hospital staff for their support.