Eight nurses rushed to save collapsed cricketer
Eight nurses worked to save the life of club cricketer Hareesh Gangadharan after he collapsed during a match in Dunedin.
Gangadharan, 38, had just bowled a two-over spell for the Green Island Cricket Club’s second grade team on Saturday afternoon, when he told wicket keeper Vyshak Mohan he needed to rest.
‘‘He said he was short of breath,’’ Mohan said.
‘‘He was standing on his knees, and then he suddenly collapsed.’’
Mohan and his Super Chunkz teammates, eight of who were registered nurses, supported Hareesh and took turns to administer CPR as he lost consciousness.
An AED (automatic external defibrillator) from the Sunnyvale-based clubrooms was used, ‘‘but we couldn’t revive him’’.
‘‘He was in our hands,’’ Mohan said. ‘‘We feel so down because we are all nurses and we couldn’t revive him . . . I don’t know what happened there.’’
His wife, Nisha Hareesh, an ICU nurse, was working at the time of her husband’s death.
The couple had a 3-year-old girl, Gowri, whose name was written on her father’s cricket bat.
She was ‘‘devastated,’’ Mohan said.
‘‘She can’t stop crying, and has barely slept.’’
All the team were supporting his Mosgiel-based family by fundraising to help repatriate his body back to India, as per Hindu custom.
‘‘We will miss our lovely friend.’’
Gangadharan was a fun-loving, hard-working man who loved his family, friends and cricket, Mohan said.
As a mark of respect the team would retire Hareesh’s ‘18’ jersey – a number chosen after his favourite player, Indian superstar Virat Kohli.
Mohan, who had known Hareesh for five years and played cricket with him for two seasons, said ‘‘he was our main bowler and main batsman, he was such a talented left-hander’’.
He felt as if the cricket season was now over.