Wofford player Michael Roach: among the 5% of survivors

[dungeonjoe]

Moments before, the crowd was cheering for their team. Then, we were all spectators of a life and death fight on the sidelines, united in hope and prayer; the moans of the crowd as the medical team yelled "clear!" were eerie. Hats off to TTU for the classy sportsmanship, the city and the hospital. Team trainers did a great job.

update here: http://athletics.wofford.edu/news/2016/9/3/football-update-on-linebacker-michael-roach.aspx


The last paragraph: "Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is a disease of the heart muscle in which a portion of the myocardium is enlarged without any obvious cause, creating functional impairment of the cardiac muscle. HCM is the leading cause of sudden cardiac death in young athletes in the United States and typically only 5% of people survive after going into cardiac arrest."

[Lehigh Football Nation]

Holy crap. Glad to hear the young man is a member of the 5%. I know some of the Wofford fans said on Twitter that CPR saved his life, because he was administered CPR on the sidelines.

[Hammersmith]

Holy crap. Glad to hear the young man is a member of the 5%. I know some of the Wofford fans said on Twitter that CPR saved his life, because he was administered CPR on the sidelines.

Probably also because an automatic defib machine was so close by.

(assuming it was an auto; could have been a standard since there was an ambulance there)

[TTUEagles]

I still cannot believe what I witnessed on Thursday. The unbelievable, ominous silence of the stadium, with the "clear!" shouting by the trainers/EMS, the furious care provided by the medical staff of Wofford and then the elation/relief upon hearing the PA announcer reporting Mr. Roach's good condition...
I hope everyone takes serious the need for AED's at every sporting event, school, public facility, etc.
I'm pulling like hell for Mike Roach and for Wofford this year...

[bonarae]

Great news...

[walliver]

Holy crap. Glad to hear the young man is a member of the 5%. I know some of the Wofford fans said on Twitter that CPR saved his life, because he was administered CPR on the sidelines.

Recent evidence suggests that CPR is fairly useless. The only modality demonstrated to improve survival is defibrillation, either with an AED or tradition defibrillator. What is most frightening about this situation is that the first symptom of these type of problems is sudden death.

[Thumper 76]

Thank God he's alright, glad he beat the odds!

[dungeonjoe]

I still cannot believe what I witnessed on Thursday. The unbelievable, ominous silence of the stadium, with the "clear!" shouting by the trainers/EMS, the furious care provided by the medical staff of Wofford and then the elation/relief upon hearing the PA announcer reporting Mr. Roach's good condition...
I hope everyone takes serious the need for AED's at every sporting event, school, public facility, etc.
I'm pulling like hell for Mike Roach and for Wofford this year...

I noticed the hospital's "heart attack center" sign coming to the game. Good to know a quality hospital was less than 2 minutes away. TTU will be a team I follow this year!!!

[catamount man]

Holy jumping pogo stick!!! Glad to hear the young man is better. Prayers for him and the Wofford family.

[Mr. C]

This hits close to home. I watched Michael Roach play a couple of games last season in person, including the Tennessee Tech-Wofford game in Spartanburg. So happy to hear that this great young man had the proper medical attention. Hoping for a complete recovery for him.

[Mr. C]

Recent evidence suggests that CPR is fairly useless. The only modality demonstrated to improve survival is defibrillation, either with an AED or tradition defibrillator. What is most frightening about this situation is that the first symptom of these type of problems is sudden death.
A lot of schools have made the investment in defibrillators in the wake of the Hank Gathers incidents with the Loyola Marymount basketball team in 1989-90. I was suppose to be covering the original game where Gathers collapsed against UC Santa Barbara, but was talked out of covering it to attend an office Christmas party. Knew his athletic trainer, too. Unfortunately, having a defibrillator at courtside for Gathers' second incident in the WCC tournament couldn't bring him back, but EVERY athletic event should have this life-saving equipment on hand.

[Mr. C]

Another incident at a game I covered was when a personal friend of Jerry Tarkanian (the college president that gave Tarkanian his first college coaching job in junior college) collapsed in the stands as UNLV was finishing off a victory over New Mexico State in the 1990 Big West basketball tournament championship game. They wheeled him out of the arena right behind me on press row. Unfortunately, he couldn't be saved from a massive heart attack.

[TTUEagles]

AED's are key - I have a 40 year old friend who "just passed out" at the Nashville zoo and AED was used after about 2-3 minutes of CPR from bystanders. My friend woke up in the ambulance after 3 "shocks" and has been given a clean bill of health ever since. Don't discount the importance of CPR, however. It is vital to be performed until AED can be used, to keep blood pumping to the brain and other vital organs - to stave off irreversible cell death from lack of blood flow...

I'm so thankful Mr. Roach is alive and well today!!!

[crabby terrier]

I was unable to make the game but from the videos I have seen and descriptions I have read I want to say thank you to the Tenn Tech players, coaches, administration, medical staff, fans and even the Mayor of Cookeville! Hats off to a very classy group of people! When EMS was called they were casually coming across the field not knowing the severity of the situation and the crowd started hollering for them to “Hurry”. All the medical staff from Tech were on our side assisting. There was a police escort for ambulance to the hospital. Both teams met at midfield for a collective prayer for Roach. You could see Tech players embracing Terriers on the field and showing such concern and compassion. The Tech Head Coach, AD, Head Trainer and the Cookeville Mayor all went to the hospital to visit Roach and his family. CLASS ACT!!!! I will pull for them whenever they are not playing my Terriers.

GO TERRIERS!!!

[PAllen]

Recent evidence suggests that CPR is fairly useless. The only modality demonstrated to improve survival is defibrillation, either with an AED or tradition defibrillator. What is most frightening about this situation is that the first symptom of these type of problems is sudden death.

It's been known for at least 10 years that CPR very rarely resuscitates someone. What it does do is keep the brain alive until the defib is used to kickstart the heart.

[walliver]

It's been known for at least 10 years that CPR very rarely resuscitates someone. What it does do is keep the brain alive until the defib is used to kickstart the heart.

More recent evidence suggests that CPR is much less effective with ventricular fibrillation than with cardiac arrest. It is still better than doing nothing at all..


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[ElonFirefighter]

Chest compression have been proven most effective. It was shown that all progress gained was lost when one stopped to ventilate a pt. when one breaths they only use 20% of the oxygen they take in. so with just compression you still have usable oxygen in your lungs. its beneficial until an AED can be retrieved but the faster one is used the better.

There are also times nothing will work. My boss whos wifes father was a preacher walked up to the puppet one day open his Bible and fell back. There were 3 nurses in the church that day, but Dr's said that he was dead before he hit the floor. Sometimes they are so massive no intervention will help

[TTUEagles]

Of note... I thought it was also great to see the officials involved as well... and you can see the emotions of the night by the Wofford player, lower right corner:

http://www.anygivensaturday.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=23464&stc=1

[Go...gate]

Thanks be to God.

[walliver]

Latest updates:

http://www.tout.com/m/8yxqth

His football career is over, but there are more important things in life.

[aust42]

Wow only 5% survive in that scenario Thank God. I can't imagine the atmosphere in that situation.

[walliver]

Wow only 5% survive in that scenario Thank God. I can't imagine the atmosphere in that situation.

A high school player in Lexington, SC died from this this summer. Even if the event is witnessed, it can be difficult to resuscitate these patients

[Sandlapper Spike]

He was/is very fortunate. And I'm mildly surprised at how quickly he was able to get out of the hospital.

[kdinva]

Glad Mr. Roach is still with us.......take care, and go and get your degree...