Basketball coach collapsed 3 minutes into the game. The rival coach’s next move saved his life.
When Ronnie Poirier's lips turned blue and he collapsed face-down on the court, rival coach Ian Haffer knew exactly what to do.
(L) A basketball coach yells at his players; (R) A man clutches his chest. Three minutes into a middle school basketball game in Massachusetts, Ronnie Poirier collapsed face-down near the gym. His lips had turned blue .
He wasn’t breathing. Ian Haffer, the coach from the opposing Belmont team, saw it happen. He didn’t hesitate.
He yelled for someone to get an AED (automated external defibrillator), ran over to Poirier, and started cutting off his shirt. Parents in the stands watched in shock as Haffer, who had medical training, got the AED hooked up and delivered the shock. A parent named Reed Bundy called 911.
Paramedics arrived minutes later and rushed Poirier to the hospital, where he was treated for cardiac arrest in the ICU. Haffer had been coaching in Belmont for years, but he’d never faced anything like this. “I was unsure about what was going to happen,” he told WAGMTV .