superman7515
January 9th, 2015, 11:25 PM
http://www.delawareonline.com/story/sports/college/ud/2015/01/09/college-basketball-saved-players-life-literally/21507739/
NEWARK – Tom Allshouse took a couple labored breaths, gasped and blacked out.
His head flopped to the side as he lay on his back on a University of Delaware basketball court.
At that instant his UD coach, Monte Ross, kneeling next to him, had a horrifying flashback.
Ross' father, Earl, who was 65 and suffering from terminal cancer, had died in his son's arms in much the same manner in 2003. He'd taken a few breaths that grew increasingly strained, and then there were none.
Earl Ross, in a Philadelphia hospital bed, slumped into his son's embrace.
"With Allshouse," Ross said, "it was the same thing. It was that scary.''
It should have been, because Allshouse's heart had stopped beating.
Until then, the 6-foot-6, 235-pound mechanical engineering major out of St. Mark's High had been of sound body and mind.
But at the end of a sprint down court in the Carpenter Center's east practice gym, the 22-year-old Blue Hen suddenly felt dizzy. He stopped near the foul line and took a few wobbly steps to the baseline. There, he collapsed.
Freshman teammate Eric Carter, standing next to Allshouse, actually caught him. Carter, 6-9 and 230 pounds himself, then yelled "Coach!" loud enough and with the right hint of impending danger that Ross, walking at midcourt, flinched, thinking a basketball may be zooming toward him.
It was Dec. 10, a light Wednesday practice in the middle of final exams week.
Coaches and Paul Lowry, the team's athletic trainer, hustled over and Allshouse was laid down on the court.
"I could tell he passed out," Lowry said. "Normal protocol. Lift the legs [to get some circulation toward his head], call out your name, other stimuli to have them come back to consciousness.
"He came back. He was eyes open, looking at me, talking to me for a little bit. We asked him to try a breathing technique to calm him down, and that's when things started getting real.''
Less than two minutes after regaining consciousness, Allshouse began struggling to breathe. His pupils dilated and he passed out again. Lowry manually checked his carotid artery pulse at his neck and couldn't feel a beat. But Allshouse had suddenly tensed up, so maybe that was why no thump was detected. Lowry moved to Allshouse's wrist but couldn't detect one there either....
Much more at the link
NEWARK – Tom Allshouse took a couple labored breaths, gasped and blacked out.
His head flopped to the side as he lay on his back on a University of Delaware basketball court.
At that instant his UD coach, Monte Ross, kneeling next to him, had a horrifying flashback.
Ross' father, Earl, who was 65 and suffering from terminal cancer, had died in his son's arms in much the same manner in 2003. He'd taken a few breaths that grew increasingly strained, and then there were none.
Earl Ross, in a Philadelphia hospital bed, slumped into his son's embrace.
"With Allshouse," Ross said, "it was the same thing. It was that scary.''
It should have been, because Allshouse's heart had stopped beating.
Until then, the 6-foot-6, 235-pound mechanical engineering major out of St. Mark's High had been of sound body and mind.
But at the end of a sprint down court in the Carpenter Center's east practice gym, the 22-year-old Blue Hen suddenly felt dizzy. He stopped near the foul line and took a few wobbly steps to the baseline. There, he collapsed.
Freshman teammate Eric Carter, standing next to Allshouse, actually caught him. Carter, 6-9 and 230 pounds himself, then yelled "Coach!" loud enough and with the right hint of impending danger that Ross, walking at midcourt, flinched, thinking a basketball may be zooming toward him.
It was Dec. 10, a light Wednesday practice in the middle of final exams week.
Coaches and Paul Lowry, the team's athletic trainer, hustled over and Allshouse was laid down on the court.
"I could tell he passed out," Lowry said. "Normal protocol. Lift the legs [to get some circulation toward his head], call out your name, other stimuli to have them come back to consciousness.
"He came back. He was eyes open, looking at me, talking to me for a little bit. We asked him to try a breathing technique to calm him down, and that's when things started getting real.''
Less than two minutes after regaining consciousness, Allshouse began struggling to breathe. His pupils dilated and he passed out again. Lowry manually checked his carotid artery pulse at his neck and couldn't feel a beat. But Allshouse had suddenly tensed up, so maybe that was why no thump was detected. Lowry moved to Allshouse's wrist but couldn't detect one there either....
Much more at the link