BACK FROM THE BRINK
St Mary’s coach survives cardiac arrest after collapsing at training
ST MARY’S is adamant co-coach Glenn Keast will “win the fight” after the local football legend almost died on the football field.
Keast collapsed and fell on his back while conducting a drill at Anthony Costa Oval on Saturday morning about 9.30, having suffered a cardiac arrest.
His sons, Tom and Matt, raced to his aid and performed CPR on their father until the ambulance arrived about five minutes later. It was Keast’s 50th birthday.
The Saints premiership coach and North Shore great was taken to Geelong hospital, where he was put under sedation. Keast, a five-time GFL premiership coach including four as playing-coach at North Shore, is now in intensive care and breathing unassisted for the first time since the incident.
Initially it was feared Keast had a heart attack and was placed in an induced coma, but his fellow senior co-coach Travis Robertson confirmed it was not the case.
“I have only learnt this in the last 24 hours; but he had a cardiac arrest, not a heart attack,” Robertson said. “He has been taken out of that sedation (on Sunday) morning, which is really good news, and he’s breathing unassisted, which again is very good.
“He’s in ICU in a stable condition and he’s having further tests. We don’t really know why it has occurred and that’s why they (doctors) are doing further tests.”
Speaking just hours after Keast collapsed, Robertson said players and officials who witnessed the incident had been rocked.
But Robertson is confident his mate will make a full recovery.
“(It’s been a) s--- day, but he has a fight on his hands that I’m sure he will win,” Robertson said.
Robertson said it is expected Keast will have a lengthy stint in hospital after the scare: “He’ll be in there for a while. His body has been through a bit in the last 24 hours.”
With strict protocols amid the coronavirus pandemic, Robertson said he and fellow St Mary’s officials had been unable to visit Keast in hospital, where his family has remained since he was taken into care.
Robertson was at the other end of Anthony Costa Oval when he saw a “lot of commotion” and raced to the aid of Keast.
“I was training with the other group of 10 at the other end of the oval. I quickly bolted up the other end and I could see we had a real problem on our hands.”
Thankfully, an off-duty nurse who was walking her dog at Kardinia Park acted swiftly and led the way with resuscitation attempts alongside Keast’s young sons before paramedics arrived.
Robertson said he was coping OK in the hours after the ordeal, proudly stating: “I’m involved in a pretty special football club. It has rocked us all, that’s for sure.”
Keast is renowned in Geelong football circles as a successful player and coach. In the 2019 season he led St Mary’s to a grand final win, snapping three successive grand final defeats, over Colac.
As a player, Keast won two Mathieson Medals — the GFL’s senior best and fairest — in 1991 and 1995. His first Mathieson was at St Albans, while he was part of a four-way tie in 1995 at North Shore.
In June, 2015, Keast was listed at No.12 in the Geelong Advertiser’s top GFL players of all time.