Mar 2, 2008 11:38 pm US/Central
Player Has Cardiac Arrest During H.S. B-Ball Game
MONTICELLO, Minn. (WCCO) ―
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Minutes into the basketball game between Monticello and Rogers, center Adam Thielen collapsed on the court.
CBS
A Monticello High School student is talking for the first time since he had a heart attack Friday night. Minutes into the basketball game between Monticello and Rogers, center Adam Thielen collapsed on the court.
"We're playing the game, Adam started as usual, played about four or five minutes and then our rotation starts where he and another kid came out and we put subs in," said Bruce Balder-Lanoue, Adam's coach.
However, about eight minutes into the game Thielen suffered a heart attack.
"We had just scored a fast break lay-up and everybody heard a whistle. I think most of the team assumed we had a timeout coming but then we turned around to our bench and saw our teammate Adam Thielen face-first on the ground," said Tom Satzke, Thielen's teammate.
"All of the sudden I look over, and we called timeout for some reason, I see A.T. on the floor. I thought he just fell over and got hurt or something," said teammate Josh Hibbison.
Thielen was on the sidelines when he went into cardiac arrest. His teammates said it looked like he was having a seizure.
Two EMT's, who had been watching the game came out of the stands to help Thielen. They used the school's portable defibrillator to shock his heart, in an attempt to restart it.
"You could have heard a pin drop the whole time that everything was going on. The gym was completely silent," said Balder-Lanoue.
The defibrillator worked, but on the way to the Monticello hospital paramedics had to shock Thielen one more time. He was flown to North Memorial Medical Center in Robbinsdale.
On Sunday he woke up from a medically-induced coma. Teammates are happy to hear #50, the guy known as "A.T.," is rebounding nicely.
"The last we've heard is that he is awake now and talking, and conversational. His first words when he woke up were 'Did we win on Friday?' So that is a good sign," said teammate Tom Sawatzke.
Doctor's will run more tests on Thielen's heart over the next couple days to try and find out what caused him to go into cardiac arrest. His father wanted to thank everyone who helped him at the game. He also said that all schools should have a defibrillator on hand and train students and faculty on how to use them.
Thielen's teammates held a prayer service for him Saturday night. They said they plan on wearing armbands or writing "A.T." on their shoes at their next game. The Rogers-Monticello game was called off after Thielen collapsed and the rematch will be scheduled at a later date.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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