Duo helps save heart attack victim
Severna Park athletes give CPR to collapsed man on tennis court
Jack Peterson and Jimmy Patz are happy they picked June 24 to work on their football skills.
The Severna Park High seniors were getting ready to run routes and catch passes from quarterback Aiden Millewski on the practice field at their school when they were thrust into an emergency situation.
“Wewere putting on our cleats when this man came running up,” Patz said. “He was screaming: ‘Does anyone know CPR, does anyone know CPR?’ Fortunately, we did.”
Patz and Peterson didn’t hesitate, having learned cardiopulmonary resuscitation in health class at Severna Park High as sophomores. They raced to a nearby tennis court where 65-year-old George Ponticello had collapsed from cardiac arrest.
Ponticello is a member of the Anne Arundel County Tennis Association and was involved in a tournament.. The Annapolis resident had a match at the Severna
Park High courts. His opponent found help from Peterson and Patz.
The teenagers put their training to good use, performing CPR on Ponticello for approximately eight minutes while waiting for paramedics to arrive.
Doctors at Baltimore Washington Medical Center told Ponticello his life was saved thanks to the CPR efforts of Patz, Peterson and an unidentified adult tennis player who responded from a nearby court.
“I’m very, very grateful to those high school students that performed CPR on me,” Ponticello told The Capital in a telephone interview. “Hopefully, I’ll get a chance to thank them both.”
Doctors at the Baltimore Washington Medical Center discovered that Ponticello had a 95 percent blockage of his left descending coronary artery. They inserted a stent to solve the problem and found that all his other arteries were clear.
“My cholesterol is good, my blood pressure is good and I’m in great shape. That is probably the only thing that saved me from a widowmaker,” said Ponticello, using a term used to describe a certain type of sudden, fatal heart attack.
Ponticello said heart disease runs in the family and his father underwent a quadruple bypass at the age of 55. He had just started a match with another association member when stricken.
“I was in the middle of the first when I just blacked out. Next thing you know, I was in intensive care. I’ve been told they had to shock me back to life three times,” he said.
Ray Bussey serves as site manager for the Anne Arundel County Recreation and Parks Department. He arrived just before 5 p.m. and was unlocking an equipment shed when he heard Ponticello’s playing partner yelling for help.
Travis Loving, an assistant coach with the Severna Park High boys’ lacrosse team, was preparing for a youth lacrosse skill session on the same field at the time. Loving also knows CPR and responded along with Patz and Peterson.
Ponticello’s playing partner immediately called 911 and remained on the phone with the operator throughout the incident.
“Whenwe got over to the court there was anotherplayer performing CPR, but he looked pretty tired, so I took over,” Patz said.
“Jimmy started giving him chest compressions then I hopped in. The 911 operator told us to rotate regularly so we stayed fresh,” Peterson said.
Loving, a 1991 graduate of Arundel High who played college lacrosse at West Point, also took a turn performing CPR. He immediately noticed the combined efforts made a difference.
“I’m very proud of the boys,” Loving said. Ponticello was released from the hospital and was resting comfortably at home in Annapolis by Saturday morning.