WILSON, N.Y. (WKBW) — Families in Wilson saved a club soccer coach’s life. The coach collapsed halfway through a game, but thanks to quick thinking spectators providing CPR and an AED, he’s on the road to recovery.
Scary moments at a club soccer game in Wilson, all caught on the school’s security cameras. Southern Tier Football Club coach Andrew Pihlblad collapsed during the second half of a June 4 match-up against Wilson.
“I remember the first half, halftime, I remember all of that perfectly, everything right up to, and then it’s kind of like a light switch,” Pihlblad said.
“Middle of the game, I look down, and I saw him face down in the turf,” Wilson High School coach Paul Herrmann said. “He just stopped breathing. I realized really quickly he is in a really bad place. That’s when I was screaming across for people to help me.”
Video shows Coach Herrmann, along with many parents, one of whom I am told is a nurse, rush to Pihlblad’s side and immediately start giving him CPR on the field.
Other team parents like Claire Simpson, who is a school secretary, rushed inside the high school to grab an AED.
“As soon as I heard the word ‘heart,’ I knew that we had to do something,” Simpson said. “Yes, I ran my fastest.”
Paramedics arrived on the scene shortly after, transporting Pihlblad to Buffalo General, where he stayed for a week before being released.
“I would have died without the CPR and the AED, there’s not even a question. I wouldn’t be here today if it weren’t for their actions,” Pihlblad said. “If it were a trained group of professionals, it would be a miracle, but the fact that it was just people... without them, I wouldn’t be here… Thank you, I thank you, my family thanks you, everybody thanks you, I can’t thank you enough.”
Pihlblad tells me he’s in his 40s and had no previous health issues, but he hopes this freak event serves as a testament to get others CPR and AED certified.
“If you can have a chance to learn it, learn it, and maybe you will be the person to save somebody’s life,” Pihlblad said.
Pihlblad tells me his doctors are still trying to determine why this happened.
In the meantime, more than a dozen of those parents’ actions will be honored by the district at an upcoming Wilson school board meeting. Coach Herrmann also tells me he plans to create a team bonding activity for his players centered around learning CPR.
