Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - It was a scary weekend for members of the Black Rock-Riverside Little League Football community after an 11-year-old player ended up collapsing on the field and needing to be resuscitated after going into cardiac arrest.
Jim Rogan is the league's commissioner, and happened to be at the game on Saturday working the game clock. He says it all happened in a matter of seconds.
"He was going to make a tackle, and he came down on his chest. And when he rolled over, somebody ran by and stepped on his chest. And it ended up that his heart stopped, kind of like the same thing that happened to [Buffalo Bills safety] Damar Hamlin. His whole body went limp," said Rogan in an interview with WBEN.
Just as quick as the player went into cardiac arrest, everyone else on the field jumped into action.
"His coach ran out there, I ran out there, and we saw how he was, and then our paramedic came out. She did a stand-up job. She saved his life," said Rogan. "Along with the opponents - Clarence, their coaches and parents - they helped out to."
The paramedic on site works for AMR, and is a mother of another player and the wife of one of the football coaches. She went to work administering CPR to the 11-year-old, and then helped resuscitate him with the help of an automated external defibrillator (AED).
Rogan admits it was a tense few moments as work was done to help save the player's life.
"Of course there was a fear that he wasn't going to make it. The emotion with everybody, I don't even know what word to use. Everybody was in tears," Rogan noted. "You can't describe that emotion, because you don't feel it that often."
Rogan adds Buffalo police officers and firefighters were also quick to report to the scene to assist. After being resuscitated, the boy was rushed to the hospital.
"He's good. It's very hard on the parents, I'm sure. It would be hard on any parent. He's still in the hospital and stuff, but we're just all praying for him," Rogan said.
Despite seeing what happened with Hamlin back in 2023 and the response to CPR and AED training in the months and years following, Rogan admits it's something that no one thinks will happen in their league to one of their young players.
"Until you see it for real, you really don't think about it much," he said. "I mean, we all saw what happened to Damar, that was emotional too. But when it happens to an 11 year old kid..."
In light of what happened Saturday, Rogan says it goes to show that this is far beyond football.
"Football doesn't matter. The games didn't matter, at this point. The boys' safety was what mattered the most. And the other team, Clarence, everybody proved that. Everybody proved it with what happened," he said.
In the meantime, Rogan plans on bringing even more awareness to the importance of CPR and AED training. It starts on Tuesday with a meeting with other teams they play at Riverside Park.
"All the leagues are invited to come up to our field tomorrow for prayers, and education about CPR and how important it is," Rogan said.
