Baseball Games Can Be Scary...

The night started out like any other of our summer evenings... hurry up and get home after work so we can head out to a ball game!! On this particular evening, Zach was playing a double-header against another local high school team -- North High. During the 2nd game, Zach came up to bat and hit the ball fast and hard... right into the pitcher!! The next thing we saw, the pitcher just dropped to the mound and lay completely still for a good ten seconds or more. By the time people were rushing out to check on him, he was trying to get on his knees. Zach's coach called 911 because the kid was having trouble breathing and swallowing. He did manage to tell the coaches and trainers that the ball hit him in his collarbone, then bounced up and hit his neck. The pitcher's father also ran out to the field to see about his son, only to collapse on the field himself, so another 911 call was placed. We ended up with three cop cars, two firetrucks, and two ambulances arriving on the scene. The paramedics determined that the baseball must have struck the adam's apple and partially lodged it into his airway... once they squeezed his neck, the adam's apple moved back out and he was able to breathe and swallow better. Turns out the father that collapsed has a history of cardiac arrest... they think his blood pressure probably spiked when his son got hurt. The paramedics also noticed that his pulse was thready, so they wanted to take him to a hospital. Both the pitcher and his father went to the hospital that night. And throughout all of this, Zach just felt TERRIBLE... it was really hard for both teams to continue the game after this incident. I am just so thankful for some of the parents from the opposing team that came up to Zach after the game to let him know that "it was OK", that "these things happen", "baseball can be dangerous", etc. etc." The best part was the next day at Zach's practice... his coaches let him know that both father and son were OK and recovering fine...