LOS ANGELES (WSVN) — An umpire who suffered a heart attack during a baseball game in Los Angeles was saved by a doctor in attendance.
Jeff Hiserodt suddenly collapsed near home plate in the middle of Thursday’s baseball game, which sparked panic.
“I feel like I got hit with a baseball bat and I lost the fight.” said Hiserodt.
Hiserodt said he was suffering a heart attack.
His colleagues and some kids yelled out to the people in the bleachers for help.
“Basically someone said, ‘Is there a doctor?’ And I sat there for a while, and I was like, ‘Well…'” said Jen Poole.
Luckily, Poole is a doctor, and happened to be in the bleachers. She sprang into action to save Hiserodt’s life.
She admitted her uncertainty, due to the fact that she is not an emergency room doctor and wasn’t specialized in resuscitating strangers.
“The adrenaline’s going, you’re second guessing if you’re doing the right thing. But, you just know, you have to help.” she said.
Poole is captured on video, seen wearing a green sweater and blue hat, running to Hiserodt on the field before performing life-saving measures.
“I was doing CPR for probably like seven to 10 minutes, which is a really long time,” she said.
“My joke to her is she’s not a big lady to get through all of this.” said Hiserodt.
Poole persisted in her efforts, and said she was able to get his heart going again multiple times.
Looking back at the footage, Hiserodt said he was in awe.
“Picked the legs up, started cutting this, and you can see her start giving directives,” said Hiserodt. “To acknowledge what’s happening and be the person that runs to the problem, to the fire, that’s rare in today’s day and age.”
Hiserodt said he died and came back to life because of Poole taking the lead.
“That’s very deep, and that’s a lot, and so, I would just hope that I kept him going and he didn’t die,” said Poole.
Paramedics who arrived at the scene used a defibrillator on Hiserodt.
Hiserodt and Poole are now hoping this experience can serve as a way to inform people of the importance of CPR and for community spaces to have defibrillators.
“So that, if things go wrong, we are able to support the people who are injured or hurt.” said Poole.
Hiserodt said that, at the end of the day, the baseball gods weren’t done with him yet.
“I have some reason, some teachings to pass on,” said Hiserodt. “My love and my passion for the game to continue to pass on to the next generation is, I assume, why I’m still here.”
Hiserodt said his colleagues and other doctors also played a crucial role in saving his life, and he thanked the entire team who worked on him.
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