Michael Crane, 26, was at Novato High School gym in November and getting ready to play a playoff adult league basketball game.
Michael Crane the Saviour
Forrest Manning’s team had just lost and he had just sat down in a chair.
About 20 seconds into Crane’s game, Manning fell out of the chair and his teammates called out for help.
Crane is a graduate student at Arizona State University and is finishing his thesis for a degree in fire department administration.
He finished an 18-month internship with the Napa Fire Department in early 2008 and is trained as an emergency medical technician.
Crane gave mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and chest compressions until Novato paramedics arrived.
Manning received shocks from a defibrillator and was taken to a hospital.
He is recovering from having two stents installed in previously blocked arteries.
With some help, Manning tracked down Crane, who recently moved to San Francisco, to thank him. “It’s strange because how can you really thank somebody completely who saved your life?” Manning said. “I’m sure he knows how much it meant.”
Crane said he got goosebumps when Manning called. “I was taken aback by it all,” he said. “I think everybody who was there that night has seen the impact of knowing CPR. Hopefully people will take the steps to learn it so they have the ability to save a life.”
