PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — As we've seen this week in the case of Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin, every second matters when it comes to saving someone's life while they're unconscious.
Luckily for one Philadelphia Eagles fan who was unconscious at their most recent contest, a nurse at her first Eagles game and an emergency medicine resident in a Mummers costume were nearby at the Linc when the fan needed them the most.
It was the second quarter of the Eagles’ New Year’s Day loss to the New Orleans Saints.
Vincent Basile, 30 of Northern Liberties and a resident with Einstein Health, was sitting in his father’s season seats in section 226 when his girlfriend saw that something was happening about eight to ten rows up.
Natalie Spencer, 41 of Boyertown and the director of nursing at Sanatoga Center in Pottstown, was at the game in section 225 with her 6-year-old son Oliver as a Christmas gift for him, and noticed the abnormal sound as well several rows behind her.
“I turned to him and said, ‘You need to stay right here,’” Spencer said. “‘Don’t move. I need to go see if I can help this man.’”
That man was an Eagles fan who was laying on his back on the steep steps with his head pointing toward the field, according to Spencer. Both she and Basile noticed the color of his face turning blue and purple. Basile said some blood was coming out of the side of his mouth.
Spencer got to him before Basile. She recognized she was smaller than the unconscious man, but needed to move him into a different position. It wasn’t something she could do on her own.
“All of a sudden, a guy in a pink dress comes up on the left-hand side of me,” explained Spencer. “He said, ‘I'm a doctor.’”
It happened to be Basile, a member of the Cara Liom Wench Brigade purposely dressed in his pink Mummers outfit with his face painted in multiple colors and wearing sunglasses after the day’s festivities.
The only problem was, security was skeptical a Mummer could offer serious medical assistance during a moment of distress. He had to convince them.
“I was like, 'Sorry, I know it doesn't look like it. I'm a doctor. I work at Einstein,’” Basile explained.
Spencer heard him say that and remembered thinking, “‘Thank God.’”
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They shifted the man on his back, recognized his pulse wasn’t ideal and performed CPR on the man for a few minutes. Spencer referred to it as “work mode.”
Basile, who felt limited because he wasn’t in his normal medical setting, put his body through the motions to get the job done.
They were able to get him to regain consciousness, and then EMTs arrived.
“CPR doesn't always work,” Spencer said. “In fact a lot of times, it doesn't. Just the fact that it worked and so quick was absolutely incredible.”
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Spencer used this example, and how NFL medical personnel resuscitated Hamlin, to emphasize how important learning CPR is even if you’re not in the medical field.
When asked what the feeling is like when you bring someone back to consciousness, both said, “relief.”
Once the guy came out of it, Basile said the first thing out of his mouth was a request to find out the Eagles score.
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“He's a diehard fan,” said Spencer. “That's Philadelphia for you right there.”
“Definitely got some high fives from fans walking by, and some people bought me some beers after that,” Basile said. “It was nice. It was nice.”
Both Spencer and Basile say they spoke with the man’s family, and indicated he's recovering and doing well.
As Spencer said, “I was there for a reason.”