my hubs is guest posting with his EPIC story.
Today started like any other day.
Just a normal game day.
It wouldn't stay that way for very long.
Today was my last day at the University of Redlands working with the football team.
We had an away game at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps University.
((still not sure who named the school))
We got to Claremont at 10:45 A.M. PST.
Junior : the head athletic trainer for Redlands
Lauj : my classmate and friend
& I started taping and doing pre-game prep at 11 A.M.
We were taping in an outdoor courtyard outside of the athletic training room.
Picnic tables and retaining walls were our temporary taping tables.
We had taped about half of the players when the day took a drastic turn.
Junior, Lauj, and I were all taping ankles when I hear a football player yell
"JUNIOR" someone's down!!
Usually when someone goes 'down' in athletic training it is broken bones, sprains, strains .
Typically not something that is life-threatening.
Today is not a typical day.
Junior sends Lauj over to see what's wrong.
About 20 feet behind where we were taping
a man is laying face up in the grass.
Lauj gets over there first.
Immediately gives the order to call 911
Immediately gives the order to call 911
I was in the middle of taping an ankle and I glanced over to where Lauj was running.
I see the man is having a seizure.
I immediately drop the tape and run over to help.
Grand Mal seizure.
His arms are locked in extension.
His entire body is contracted in seizure.
Foam spewing out of his mouth.
Eyeballs rolled back to the point where you can only see white.
One and a half minutes of seizures felt like an hour and a half.
It didn't help that several players were yelling to move him.
Thank you for your ((useless/wrong)) opinion, next time I need medical advice I will be sure to ask you.
I eventually yelled to/at them that we weren't going to move him until he stopped seizing.
He stopped seizing.
We put him in the recovery position.
Lauj checked his carotid pulse.
it's not there.
I check his radial pulse.
it's not there.
We see his face is completely white like a ghost.
His lips are blue.
His breath is gone with his pulse.
We roll him on his back.
I immediately start compressions.
My mind is racing a million miles an hour.
30 to 2, 30 to 2, 30 to 2, 30 to 2, 30 to 2, 30 to 2.
one and a half to two inches deep,
one and a half to two inches deep,
one and a half to two inches deep.
Junior ran to get the rescue mask
It's the heat of the moment.
If Junior does not get back with that mask I will do breaths without the mask.
Not looking forward to that.
Determined to do everything in my power to save this man
((Little do I know, Lauj who is also there is willing to give breaths without a mask))
26 and 27 and 28 and 29 and mask arrives and 30.
Mask in . I give two rescue breaths.
Immediately I go back to compressions
1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and 5 and 6.......
I hear Lauj say "Scottie I got the breaths"
28 and 29 and 30.
Lauj gives two breaths
After the two breaths he starts coughing and breathing.
Thank you Jesus!
The football coach, who made his way over finds his radial pulse beating very faintly in his left wrist.
Breathing and heartbeat - incredible news!!!
Unfortunately this doesn't last for long.
10 seconds later he has no pulse and stops breathing again.
Our relief takes a 180 degree turn
1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and 5
27 and 28 and 29 and 30.
Lauj gives 2 breaths.
Both make the chest rise.
This repeated for 2 to 3 more cycles.
I don't even remember.
After the 4th or 5th cycle
He starts breathing.
His heart starts beating.
((Again))
He flatlined twice,
was brought back twice.
Soon after his pulse and breathing came back the second time.
The AED arrives.
I open it up and get it ready.
Lauj preps his chest with alcohol swabs.
If he crashes again we are ready with the AED.
We watch over him for about 1 minute while he has a faint pulse and continues to breathe.
The paramedics arrive and take over 7 minutes after they received the call.
How to move on and play a football game after this.
All the players are rattled.
Junior, Lauj, and I are all shaking with adrenaline.
We all continue taping on autopilot.
Adrenaline is shooting through my veins.
I am shaking.
I am trying to stay calm to keep the players from panicking.
They are clearly very shaken.
During the seven minute ordeal, about 30-40 players saw everything happen.
They were frozen in place like statues.
The paramedics carted the man off the field.
When he left he was still breathing and had a pulse.
We found out later that he was taken into the hospital and rushed into surgery.
He had had a heart attack and that caused the seizure.
His name is Leon.
He is 51.
Please say a prayer for him as we have not got an update since he went in for surgery.
He was there alone.
Everything happens for a reason.
I believe it was the hand of God.
that this man had a heart attack 20 feet away from 3 people who knew CPR.
What are the chances that we would tape outside in a courtyard on picnic tables?
20 feet from an isolated man who was having a heart attack.
Everything happens for a reason.
I am just thankful to God that he put us in a position to help.
Today was one of the most important days of my life.
After this the rest of the day was a blur.
I still don't feel 'right'.
I've never experienced anything like this.
The players were great the rest of the day.
They showered us with compliments and kind words.
"You guys are heroes"
"You saved his life, he was lucky you guys were there"
"Great job guys"
"Good $h*t man, I'm glad you were here cause I would have froze, actually I did freeze"
"Great work today"
"I can be your hero baby ((insert enrique iglesias voice))"
The coaches were great too
"Great work today"
"I heard you were saving lives today, that's the $h*t they don't teach in books"
We won the game on a hailmary pass.
God was with us the entire day.
The receiver who caught the game winning pass.
"you guys are the real heroes today"
The starting running back said
"You guys are the MVP's of today"
The coaches awarded us the top bulldog award for the day.
All the kind words and compliments were great,
but all I hope and pray for is that Leon made it out of surgery safely
and is on his way to recovery.
He is a son, father, uncle, brother and friend.
I hope he continues to be those for a long time.
Thank you God for putting us in the right place in the right time.
You deserve all the credit & glory.
Foam spewing out of his mouth.
Eyeballs rolled back to the point where you can only see white.
One and a half minutes of seizures felt like an hour and a half.
It didn't help that several players were yelling to move him.
Thank you for your ((useless/wrong)) opinion, next time I need medical advice I will be sure to ask you.
I eventually yelled to/at them that we weren't going to move him until he stopped seizing.
He stopped seizing.
We put him in the recovery position.
Lauj checked his carotid pulse.
it's not there.
I check his radial pulse.
it's not there.
We see his face is completely white like a ghost.
His lips are blue.
His breath is gone with his pulse.
These are the moments we take hours to train for, but hope and pray they never happen.
Time for CPR.We roll him on his back.
I immediately start compressions.
My mind is racing a million miles an hour.
30 to 2, 30 to 2, 30 to 2, 30 to 2, 30 to 2, 30 to 2.
one and a half to two inches deep,
one and a half to two inches deep,
one and a half to two inches deep.
Junior ran to get the rescue mask
It's the heat of the moment.
If Junior does not get back with that mask I will do breaths without the mask.
Not looking forward to that.
Determined to do everything in my power to save this man
((Little do I know, Lauj who is also there is willing to give breaths without a mask))
26 and 27 and 28 and 29 and mask arrives and 30.
Mask in . I give two rescue breaths.
Immediately I go back to compressions
1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and 5 and 6.......
I hear Lauj say "Scottie I got the breaths"
28 and 29 and 30.
Lauj gives two breaths
After the two breaths he starts coughing and breathing.
Thank you Jesus!
The football coach, who made his way over finds his radial pulse beating very faintly in his left wrist.
Breathing and heartbeat - incredible news!!!
Unfortunately this doesn't last for long.
10 seconds later he has no pulse and stops breathing again.
Our relief takes a 180 degree turn
1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and 5
27 and 28 and 29 and 30.
Lauj gives 2 breaths.
Both make the chest rise.
This repeated for 2 to 3 more cycles.
I don't even remember.
After the 4th or 5th cycle
He starts breathing.
His heart starts beating.
((Again))
He flatlined twice,
was brought back twice.
Soon after his pulse and breathing came back the second time.
The AED arrives.
I open it up and get it ready.
Lauj preps his chest with alcohol swabs.
If he crashes again we are ready with the AED.
We watch over him for about 1 minute while he has a faint pulse and continues to breathe.
The paramedics arrive and take over 7 minutes after they received the call.
How to move on and play a football game after this.
All the players are rattled.
Junior, Lauj, and I are all shaking with adrenaline.
We all continue taping on autopilot.
Adrenaline is shooting through my veins.
I am shaking.
I am trying to stay calm to keep the players from panicking.
They are clearly very shaken.
During the seven minute ordeal, about 30-40 players saw everything happen.
They were frozen in place like statues.
The paramedics carted the man off the field.
When he left he was still breathing and had a pulse.
We found out later that he was taken into the hospital and rushed into surgery.
He had had a heart attack and that caused the seizure.
His name is Leon.
He is 51.
Please say a prayer for him as we have not got an update since he went in for surgery.
He was there alone.
Everything happens for a reason.
I believe it was the hand of God.
that this man had a heart attack 20 feet away from 3 people who knew CPR.
What are the chances that we would tape outside in a courtyard on picnic tables?
20 feet from an isolated man who was having a heart attack.
Everything happens for a reason.
I am just thankful to God that he put us in a position to help.
Today was one of the most important days of my life.
After this the rest of the day was a blur.
I still don't feel 'right'.
I've never experienced anything like this.
The players were great the rest of the day.
They showered us with compliments and kind words.
"You guys are heroes"
"You saved his life, he was lucky you guys were there"
"Great job guys"
"Good $h*t man, I'm glad you were here cause I would have froze, actually I did freeze"
"Great work today"
"I can be your hero baby ((insert enrique iglesias voice))"
The coaches were great too
"Great work today"
"I heard you were saving lives today, that's the $h*t they don't teach in books"
We won the game on a hailmary pass.
God was with us the entire day.
The receiver who caught the game winning pass.
"you guys are the real heroes today"
The starting running back said
"You guys are the MVP's of today"
The coaches awarded us the top bulldog award for the day.
All the kind words and compliments were great,
but all I hope and pray for is that Leon made it out of surgery safely
and is on his way to recovery.
He is a son, father, uncle, brother and friend.
I hope he continues to be those for a long time.
Thank you God for putting us in the right place in the right time.
You deserve all the credit & glory.
2 comments:
woah... what a crazy day for you!!! How wonderful that you were right where God wanted you to be for this moment!!
I saw this post, from a comment my young friend Doug Schirmer made. It caught my eye and I had to read your story. God is so GOOD! God Bless you and your friends for making a difference. People like you give us hope for the next generation!
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