Football player saved by AED after going into cardiac arrest

By Ubah Ali

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    STILLWATER, Minnesota (WCCO) — The gridiron is where winners are crowned and incredible comebacks happen.

Stillwater High School Sophomore Keegan Hawke has one great comeback story.

On Sept. 24, Hawke went into cardiac arrest and collapsed during football practice.

“All I remember is him saying ‘coach, coach,’ then he’s right in front of me on the ground,” said Assistant Coach Matt Hemenway.

With no pulse and no time to spare, coaches and athletic trainers jumped into action with a critical piece of equipment and saved his life.

Stillwater High School Athletic Trainers Olivia Dubois and Mike Renfro started CPR while preparing the Automated External Defibrillator (AED).

“Knew he didn’t have a pulse, wasn’t breathing. We knew we needed the AED,” Dubois said. “It advised a shock. We pressed a button to administer a shock,” added Renfro.

The AED did what it was supposed to, restarted Hawke’s heart as he was rushed to Regions Hospital.

After days in the hospital, he was diagnosed with an uncommon heart rhythm that doctors hadn’t detected before when he went to get checked for an irregular heart beat.

“When playing sports, my heart would go from normal to super-fast but it would go away,” Hawke said.

After 72 hours in an induced coma and a total of 11 days in various hospitals—Keegan returned home Friday with a device that’ll monitor his heart and deliver a shock if and when he needs it.

“Really grateful, very thankful for my teammates and coaches and trainers that helped me,” Keegan said.

Katie Hawke credits the quick use of the AED for saving Hawke’s life.

“We want to create awareness that this can really happen to anyone at any age,” Katie said.

Hawke’s family is ready to champion for the miracles of that day and a lifetime with their son.

“We want to make sure anyone who’s coaching sports, at grocery store, anywhere knows CPR and how to work an AED,” Katie said.

An online fundraiser has raised nearly $5,000 for that goal.

On Friday, Hawke was back on the field to thank the trainers that saved him and see the friends he missed dearly.

Keegan is bummed he can’t play football anymore, but he’s still going to be on the sidelines for his Stillwater teammates.

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