Sunday night practice for the hockey club at Plattsburgh State is usually fairly quiet, low-key. But on September 24th, things got scary. Jena Fireovid, a player for the hockey club, collapsed on the ice. Luckily, three of her teammates knew what to do, and sprung into action.
Jenna explained, “So I started coming to the bench to try and catch my breath, and that’s all I remember. Next thing I know, I’m lying on the ice, can’t move my body, surrounded by paramedics.
Almost right away, three of her teammates came to her rescue. Once they got her helmet off, Luke Zarko held her head, while Zach Coventry performed chest compressions and Noah Lewis kept count.
Together the three men worked until Jenna started breathing on her own.
“I see her down on the ground, and Zarko by her. But then I see Luke frantically trying to get the helmet off. Then, I kind of realized it was more serious,” said Noah Lewis.
“I went over to her, started removing her helmet. So, we shined a light in her eyes at one point too. There was nothing going on there,” said Luke Zarko
Zach Coventry, then started performing CPR, “I checked her pulse, just to make sure everything was ok and I didn’t feel anything. I checked her neck again and I didn’t feel anything there. Luke double-checked it and at that point we started chest compressions,” said Coventry.
The three teammates worked on Jenna for about two minutes.
“Noah was counting, I was doing them, Luke was holding her head, making sure everything was supported, she was ok,” said Coventry. “I kept going until we got a pules back. And once I checked it and it was back, we stopped, and rolled her on her side. She started breathing again, which was a relief to all of us.”
Once paramedics arrived, they took over and got Jenna to the hospital. She said she’s been working with her doctors, but they still do not know what caused her to pass out.
“I’m not going to let it stop me and hold me back. But, it’s definitely something to be aware of,” said Jenna.
