Chaminade High School coaches honored for saving 17-year-old who collapsed on basketball court
MINEOLA, N.Y. -- Three coaches hailed as heroes were honored Thursday at Chaminade High School in Mineola.
Emotions ran high from the 17-year-old student-athlete who went into cardiac arrest and collapsed on the basketball court.
PJ Kellachan, a 6-foot-8 basketball center, is back at Chaminade High School after enduring a harrowing brush with death.
"I'm very grateful for having such a great training and coaching staff that was able to spring into action," said Kellachan.
Kellachan headed to the sideline following a drill inside Chaminade's athletic center when he suffered a seizure and collapsed.
"I remember being on the court but then my mind kind of blacks out," he said.
"His life was really in our hands at that point," said assistant coach Bob Paul.
"Everything just went south very quickly," said athletic trainer Jorge Vargas.
"PJ stopped breathing. He lost his pulse. We knew there was obviously a cardiac issue taking place," said coach Dan Feeney.
With a life hanging in the balance, they knew every second mattered.
"So I sprinted to get the AED, started compressions, started CPR. At that point we shocked him," said Vargas.
Chaminade has 11 automated external defibrillators inside their school and on their athletic fields. The AED did its part as coaches performed compressions and breathing with first responders on the way.
"We're by ourselves. So it's the three of us and the 16 kids on the team," said Feeney.
Despite chaos unfolding around them, teammates jumped into action, hailing the ambulance, directing it and clearing a path for the stretcher.
"I was on the phone with his mom, Lisa. She's in stopped traffic on the Belt Parkway," said Feeney.
Kellachan arrived at NYU-Langone within 12 minutes. He next remembers awakening attached to medical equipment.
"My mom and dad were in the hospital. I think my grandma was at home with my sisters," said Kellachan.
He was released after two days.
"Shocking. To see him two days later looking like nothing happened to him, it's miraculous," said Paul.
"It was that team effort that was able to take a situation that was dire and turn it into a happy outcome," said Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman.
Nassau County citations and coins all around for a group of humble heroes.
"Hopefully the foreseeable future I can get back on the court," said Kellachan.
If positive tests continue, doctors say that day could come right after Christmas.
