‘A minor miracle;’ Trained bystanders, AED save pickleball player at YMCA

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY-TV) – A YMCA in Wilmington held a special ceremony on Tuesday for three of its members who helped save the life of one pickleball player.

Richard Lander is an avid pickleball player at the YMCA Midtown. Despite having a pacemaker and taking medication for an abnormal heartbeat, this doesn’t stop him.

Though, on Dec. 19 of last year, that changed.

“I did finish the game, and I won the game,” Lander said.

With bragging rights in tow, he took a seat but then something else happened.

“I said ‘I think I feel dizzy’ and I looked over and Susan was right next to me and I was out, that was it,” Lander said.

Three of his pickleball mates, who are retired nurses, got to work and immediately administered CPR and utilized a nearby AED until Novant Health EMS arrived.

“And they determined that I had Tachycardia where you’re heart races to the point that it stops,” Lander said.

The swift actions from these trained bystanders saved Lander’s life after a sudden cardiac arrest.

“It’s a minor miracle that this all happened, any one things in this chain of events, causes it to collapse,” Lander said.

Those bystanders were celebrated on Tuesday at the YMCA. Benjamin Calhoun, an EMS division chief at Novant Health said the YMCA’ early call to 911, access to an AED and bystander CPR were done perfectly before they arrived, which is what saved Lander’s life.

“This is not something that should be completely uncommon, of course we don’t want this to happen, but the outcomes will be so much better with the right tools in place and this is an example of all those things aligning,” Calhoun said

Lander had to set down the paddles for a month after his pacemaker was replaced with one that has a defibrillator which monitors his heart rhythm. He also had two stents put in to restore blocked arteries.

Now, Lander is back out on the court.

“I don’t really have any restrictions, but they said ‘don’t do anything stupid,’” Lander said.

YMCA Midtown in Wilmington offers monthly CPR trainings. Click here for more information.