While Nikolaisons and White knew of each other growing up, they didn’t become good friends until their senior year at Wood River High School. Both graduated in 2023. They decided to become roommates after realizing they were both heading to Boise State.

Nikolaisons is majoring in business entrepreneurship and White is majoring in computer science. Both boys are also in the Kappa Sigma fraternity and said they spent the majority of their first year making new friends and enjoying freshman life.

The morning of April 1, a Monday, White woke up to what he thought was Nikolaisons snoring, but it sounded wrong—like he was gurgling. He got up to check on him, then realized Nikolaisons wasn’t breathing.

“He didn’t have a pulse,” White said. “I called our suite mate, Phil [Crust], and got him to call 911. The dispatcher walked us through doing chest compressions until the school security guard came and the EMTs.”

Looking back at what happened, White said it still feels surreal, but he is so happy that his friend is alive.

Nikolaisons was rushed to St. Luke’s Hospital in Boise. He flatlined again in the ambulance, his mother, Cathy Nikolaisons, said.

“I am so glad that Will and Phil were with him and did the right thing of chest compressions,” she said. “It saved his life.”

Once Jake was in the hospital, he had his third cardiac arrest. His mother said it was a blessing in disguise because he was hooked up to heart monitors so the doctors could see what was happening and diagnose the problem.

Jake has Long QT syndrome, a heart-signaling disorder that can lead to a life-threatening arrhythmia that can cause sudden fainting or cardiac arrest, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine.

Cathy said it was traumatic to watch the third attack happen, but she was grateful to the medical team for reacting quickly and getting Jake’s heart going again. Jake had a pace maker and a defibrillator implanted in his chest to prevent another cardiac arrest.

“He’s never had an issue before, and has been an active kid,” Cathy said. “Jake played hockey his whole life growing up, and loves being on the ice and helping the littler hockey players.”

Jake said he remembers pulling at a breathing tube and feeling uncomfortable when he woke up in the hospital. He doesn’t remember much from his time in the hospital’s intensive care unit.

“I had no idea what happened to me, I was so confused,” he said.

His mother said he had short-term memory loss and couldn’t remember the days leading up to April 1 or the days after. Jake said some memories of the events have just returned in the last week.

“It’s so weird this little machinery is inside me making sure there aren’t any more cardiac arrests,” he said. “I am definitely more self aware of my body and everything I do and put into it. I am not going to take life for granted.”

He doesn’t know if he will ever get back to the way he was before, and the doctors have told him he’s not allowed to play competitive sports anymore.

“That’s the worst news I heard, because I really wanted to play hockey for Boise. It hurts to hear, but I’m sure there’s other ways I can stay involved in hockey,” Jake said.

He played on the Sun Valley Suns 18U hockey team that recently earned a national title. The 2022-2023 boys squad was the first Sun Valley Youth Hockey team to win the title. The team earned the Tier II-18U crown in Maple Grove, Minnesota.

Jake will spend the next several months at home doing rehabilitation and physical therapy with a goal of getting back to school for sophomore year. His eventual goal is to graduate and open his own bar.

“I love to make people happy,” he said. “It makes me feel accomplished for the day.”

His mother is happy her son is alive and said she is so thankful for all the support from not only the Wood River Valley, but Jake’s fraternity brothers who visited the hospital every day to check on him. A friend of the Nikolaisonses has a home in Boise and let them stay there for three weeks to be near Jake.

“I got a bird’s eye view of Jake’s life in Boise and, in his short time there, the love and support he’s had is astounding,” Cathy said. “Every night, a different brother cooked up food, or brought us books to read.”

White said the fraternity is now planning a CPR certification course so members are prepared in the event of a heart attack.

Some of Jake’s former hockey teammates visited him, too, and some younger players donated $5 or $10 to a GoFundMe set up for the family, Cathy said.

“I just want to say thank you to everyone for the love and support. I am fighting a battle, but everyone else is helping me fight,” Jake said. “It opened up a new world to see how many people cared, and really cool to get all the texts and calls.”

The Nikolaisons’ GoFundMe had raised just under $65,000 as of Thursday. To donate, visit gofund.me/f1d01bbf.