A football game in Victoria’s southern suburbs was called off and a player sent to hospital on the weekend after he went into cardiac arrest mid-match, with trainers from both teams received praise for their lifesaving actions.
Keysborough player Jojo Ofosu-Amaah dropped to the ground approximately 50m away from the ball just before three-quarter time during a game against Skye at Carrum Downs Recreational Reserve.
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A teammate of the 26-year-old then raced over to remove his mouth guard as Rhiannon Smith and Briesha Bormann — the trainers for Keysborough and Skye respectively — raced onto the field to perform CPR.
A volunteer then grabbed a defibrillator from the bar area at the venue but it was defective, with a second one from the trainer’s rooms sourced.
According to The Herald Sun, the trainers worked on Ofosu-Amaah for approximately 10 minutes before an ambulance arrived.
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However, the ambulance was initially unable to drive onto the field because the key to open the main gate could not be sourced.
Although the fire brigade was called to break the lock, one player cut it using an angle grinder.
As he was taken to Frankston hospital, Ofosu-Amaah gave a thumbs-up to one of his teammates.
For Keysborough coach Chris Smith, it was “the worst thing” he’d been involved in within the sport.
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“To see him … like, once the defibrillator gets called, it sort of rattles you,” Smith told CODE Sports.
“All our players were about 15 metres away from him just slumped on the ground and emotional.
“It sort of looked a bit like a war zone.”
Smith also reserved special praise for the quick work of Smith and Bormann.
“They pulled his mouthguard out … she (Rhiannon) said there’s no pulse, get the ‘defib’ and off they went to work.
“There were other trainers there but between them they did the heavy lifting and got it done.
“Rhiannon got everyone into (work) mode, saying, ‘This is what we have to do, snap out of it, stop crying, let’s go, let’s go, … this is what we have to do.’”
Ofosu-Amaah has since sent a text message to the club confirming he is OK and will likely spend the week in hospital for further recovery.
The game was abandoned with Skye leading Keysborough 7.6 (48) to 5.7 (37).
