Drew White, Michigan City, IN – 29 at time of event (2007)
I was asked by a friend in the summer of 2007 if I might be interested in officiating YMCA basketball games over the winter. Not having officiated a basketball game since I was in college over seven years ago, I thought about it and thought it might be fun to pull out the whistle and have a go at it. The exercise, not to mention the money, would be good for me.
I'd made it through two weeks of games on Sunday nights with no problems, but on December 2, 2007, my life nearly ended on a basketball court at LaPorte High School in LaPorte, Indiana. About ten minutes into the game, I dropped to my knees and fell onto the court. As luck would have it, there were nurses from the local hospital in the stands watching their daughters play in the basketball who quickly rushed to my aid, administering CPR and hooking me up to an AED which ultimately saved my life. I awoke in the emergency room of the hospital with no recollection of the previous 30 minutes of my life.
Ultimately, I spent a total of five days in the hospital, culminating in the implantation of an ICD.
Today, I am able to live my life with little to no change to my daily routine.
- Drew White