Quick thinking by a 16-year-old junior-varsity baseball player in Georgia helped save umpire Woody Reagin’s life.
Reagin was working a game between Rockdale County and Newton County high schools last month when he suffered a heart attack and collapsed behind the plate. Emergency services were called, but in the meantime, Rockdale first baseman Alex Norwood sprung into action.
Norwood, who had learned CPR just two weeks earlier as part of a lifeguard certification course, ran to home plate and began administering chest compressions. Two spectators — including an off-duty EMT — came down from the stands to assist, and the three were able to revive Reagin by the time an ambulance arrived to take him to the hospital, according to WXIA.
“Someone in the crowd said (the umpire) was having a seizure,” Norwood told Today.com. “Coach (Jerrid) Harris was the first one out there. He was trying to talk to him and he couldn’t, and they realized his heart had stopped. I know CPR, so when I actually went out there, I wasn’t thinking about it. I guess it was just instinct. I wasn’t nervous when I did it.”
Reagin remained in the hospital as of last week, but WXIA reported that his condition was “improving.”
For more on the story, check out the video below.
Hat tip to USA Today
