Michael Savitt remembers no pain — only a tennis match, that he never got to finish.
“I was serving,” he said. “It was a very long game. All of a sudden I felt really tired and sat down on the court. That was the last thing.”
“He basically collapsed, passed out,” said Jason Powless, of Michael.
Powless, other staff and players grabbed the on-site AED, or automated external defibrillator.
“The machine told us to clear out of the way, and you have to press a button to shock, and yeah, you get off the ground a little bit,” Powless said.
The crew of Madison Fire Department Engine 7 was first to arrive at the facility.
“It was definitely life-saving,” said firefighter Mindy Dessert.
Dessert asked Powless to use the AED to administer a second shock to the downed player.
“I was at the head and what I saw as the changes in him, went from when I got there, didn’t look so good,” Dessert said. “I saw his eyes change and I saw that he was alive and he was talking.”
“We all just kind of work as a team and help each other, and it was great. Jason did a great job today,” said Dessert.
As soon as the hospital gave the okay, Michael called Jason on the phone.
“I just wanted to thank him for saving my life, and all the other people who helped.”
Powless, however, is humble about the role that he played.
“It was more the machine and all of us working together,” he said. “But to be able to talk to him on the phone this evening and know that he’s doing well and that I’m going to be able to see him again, that’s pretty great. Pretty neat.”
