In Lakewood, New Jersey quick and vigilant action from a group of coaches and medics saved the life of one Brandon Gonzalez- wrestler whose heart stopped late Wednesday night during a wrestling match.
Head Coach of Donovan Catholic Wrestling is Stephen Glawson, oral surgeon came to the rescue with plenty of others to help save Gonzales, a 220 pound junior wrestler when his heart stopped.
According to patch.com the incident occured after Gonzalez pinned his opponent.
“He went out there, full force, and pinned the kid in like 20 seconds,” Glawson said. But then Gonzalez didn’t get up right away. “At first it seemed like he was lying on the kid (deliberately),” but when Gonzalez didn’t respond to people telling him to get up, several people, including a pair of coaches from Toms River North, off-duty EMTs and another doctor, jumped to the wrestler’s aid.
“(Gonzalez) appeared to have fainted,” Glawson said. “We were monitoring him, keeping his airway open, and all of a sudden I lost his pulse.” Glawson said he had someone else feel for the pulse, and when they could not find it, CPR was started while someone went to retrieve the automated external defibrillator.
Toms River North assistant wrestling coach Josh Huber (middle) helped save the lifetime of Donovan Catholic wrestler Brandon Gonzalez, who just isn’t pictured right here. (Bob Badders)
“There were two cycles of compression by the time the AED was attached,” Glawson said, about two to four minutes of CPR. Glawson told NJ.com that he was doing chest compressions and Huber was performing doing mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Olesky worked the AED, Glawson told NJ.com. Glawson told NJ.com he believes Gonzalez’s heart issue was triggered by a lack of oxygen.
Still, seeing the “shock indicated” message on the AED was startling to Glawson.
“I’ve been involved in reviving people using an AED before, but never on someone this young and healthy,” he said. But within a minute of giving Gonzalez the shock, he was conscious, Glawson said. Gonzalez was taken to Jersey Shore University Medical Center, Neptune, and is expected to recover. “He called me today and said he’s doing great,” he said.
Lucky for Gonzalez since September 2014 all New Jersey High schools have been required to have a staff member certified in CPR as well as to have an AED easily accessible.
This was a law brought on by the case of Janet Zilinski, an 11-year-old Warren girl who died in 2006 of a sudden cardiac arrest during cheerleading practice.
“I’m not an emotional person,” Glawson said, but after Gonzalez was revived, “I looked over and saw four or five of my wrestlers were crying, and there were parents crying,
Luckily this was one story that got a happy ending!
“I remember taking him down and pinning him, and then I went blank,” Gonzalez said late Thursday afternoon from his room at Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune.
He said the next thing he remembered was waking up and seeing Donovan Catholic head coach Steve Glawson’s face. In between those two memories, the junior 220-pounder had been revived on the mat by an automatic defibrillator.
“I’m very thankful about how I got revived,” Gonzalez said. “I feel perfectly fine. I feel great again.”
