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Coach and nurse team up to save umpire who collapsed during game
A baseball game in Marietta turned into a fight to save a man's life when an umpire collapsed during an inning. Thanks to the quick thinking of a coach and nurse in the stands, the umpire survived his health emergency.
MARIETTA, Ga. - An amateur baseball game in Marietta had a heart-stopping moment when an umpire collapsed during the game.
Two quick-thinking parent - one of them, a coach - stepped in to help and saved the man's life.
Video taken at the game shows the umpire standing behind home plate waiting for a pitch. All of a sudden he tumbled to the ground.
"As the pitch was thrown he went down and collapsed. I just sprinted out to him, saw he wasn’t breathing, checked his pulse, started compressions and got through a couple," Coach Andrew Aschettino said. "Thankfully by that time Rachel (Cowan) got on the field and took it from there."
The scary moment happened Wednesday in Marietta for the WWBA World Championship. It's an event almost every top prospect in the country attends, along with more than 700 college coaches and MLB scouts.
"Our game was actually scheduled somewhere else, and they moved us to the turf because of a rainout - we weren’t even supposed to be on that field originally," Aschettino said.
Thankfully, for that umpire, Aschettino and Rachel Cowan unexpectedly ended up at the same field.
They were there to support each of their sons - not knowing they'd save someone's life during the sixth inning, when they noticed the umpire looked under the weather.
"As soon as the ump went down he started an assessment and started CPR. As soon I saw him start the chest compressions I got there as soon as I could," Cowan said.
Cowan is a nurse who has done CPR countless times. This was Aschettino's second., and he's two for two, having saved both people.
"It’s important that people don’t take it for granted when they have to recertify and they continually stay up with these lifesaving techniques," he said. "They’re life changing."
While Aschettino's team ended up losing, he says the game became secondary and it was still a win for him and his family.
It's not clear what kind of health emergency the umpire had, but Aschettino says he called the coach the next day to thank him for his quick action.