We will be reporting on lives saved around the world since our first documented life saved here in Singapore.
A few minutes into a pickup basketball game at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School on Dec. 14, Chris Cannan passed the ball to his teammate Hollis Wilkes. Instead of catching it, Wilkes dropped to the floor, unconscious.
When Wilkes collapsed, Stephen Taylor and others immediately tried to conduct CPR while others called 9-1-1.
But when they failed to open the airway, Taylor’s mind immediately went to the AED located just outside the gym, near the trophy case.
“I just kind of new where it was, and most facilities now have them,” said Taylor, a Takoma Park resident who had been trained on how to use an AED at an occupational health care company he used to work for. “It was just a matter of finding it.”
Taylor had time to prep the AED and administer one jolt of electricity to an unconscious Wilkes before the paramedics rushed inside and took control of the situation.
“Some people were upset. Some people prayed. There was the gamut of different reactions you’re going to have,” Cannan said.
“Without the defibrillator, he would have died,” Taylor said.
By Monday, Wilkes was sitting up in bed and joking with players who came to see him. Taylor said despite nearly dying, Wilkes was eager to resume the game, which has been going on with a core group of players for roughly a decade.
