With the toll the body takes playing basketball, some incidents could be fatal. That nearly happened for Bronny James, the 20-year-old Lakers rookie who suffered a cardiac arrest during practice at USC. His life was on the line, but the use of a defibrillator provided a slight shock that eventually saved his life. Some traumatic experiences in the past shaped the need for it. And the one who took charge of ensuring safety was Ryan Gomes.
By profession, Gomes works as a player development coach for the Portland Trail Blazers. However, his organization Hoops for Heart Health serves a greater purpose. After getting the news of his AAU teammate Stanley Myers’ passing from a cardiac arrest while jogging, the then-rookie with the Celtics was filled with emotions. He couldn’t face the possibility of it happening to someone else or even himself.
“I just remember the pain and how the community was devastated. “No one knew this was something that could happen to a young, healthy adult. He was just outside, running,” he told The Athletic.
But it did. And from that moment Gomes wanted to have a measure that could help in such life-threatening incidents. So he started advocating for the use of AEDs and putting them in all NBA cities. In his search to do so, he met Rachel Moyer, a woman who lost her son Greg to a similar incident when he collapsed in the locker room in 2000.
Nov 16, 2024; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Bronny James arrives at the arena before the game against the New Orleans Pelicans at Smoothie King Center. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-Imagn Images
She had been an advocate for a long with a promise made to her late son. She couldn’t put a headstone on his grave until she had AEDs in common places such as restaurants and schools.
Meeting with Ryan Gomes helped bolster the mission. And they haven’t looked back. According to Moyer, Gomes has donated at least 110 AEDs over the last 20 years of his work. Gomes and Moyer both have the same aim, to save lives. It doesn’t reward them with anything. However, the Trail Blazers coach doesn’t want recognition.
He wants to help others. And one man has a life thanks to his push.
How an AED became a lifesaver
The need for AEDs and defibrillators isn’t regular. It’s not every day that such instances might happen on the court and in public places. However, Gomes sees it like car insurance. “You want to have it, just in case,” he says. That mentality is the reason Danny Berger, a former basketball player now has a family.
In 2012, after works with the Clippers and the Timberwolves, Ryan Gomes shifted his sights to installing AEDs in every D-1 College. He sent out emails and 12 colleges answered, among them was Utah State. That was where Berger played his basketball and during one practice he suffered a cardiac arrest.
“I got scored on, and that’s the last thing I remember,” he explained. It had only been three months since they received the AEDs from Gomes. And using that, the staff at Utah State could save his life. Now, he is out of danger and at the age of 34 has a family with his wife Taylor, and two young kids.
“The more I go on in life, the more I am grateful for him. I have a family of my own now and a second chance at life. I can’t thank him enough, because ‘thank you’ doesn’t do it justice,” he said about Ryan Gomes.
It’s truly astonishing how a simple device could potentially save a life. According to AED USA, 38% of patients administered with AED and CPR are successfully discharged from hospitals. With just CPR alone, that rate drops to 9%. So Berger is grateful that he could be that 1 in 10 case only because of an AED present at the scene.
As for Ryan Gomes, his mission continues. He wants to keep helping people, even though the instances that an AED is required might be bleak. To him, it’s that one life that he can save that matters.
The post “Community Was Devastated”: NBA Veteran Reveals Why He Advocates for Medical Device That Might Have Helped Bronny James appeared first on EssentiallySports.