Player's Heart Stops During Game
From News 14 Carolina, NC
April 25, 2008

CARY, N.C. -- Thanks to some quick thinking a local high school student who was seriously injured in a lacrosse game last weekend is preparing to go to his senior prom, less than a week after his heart stopped on the field.

Alex Beuris of Cardinal Gibbons High School was hit in the chest by a ball while playing lacrosse, causing his heart to stop.

“I started having a seizure, and my teammate Rory realized that it was a pretty serious situation,” said Beuris. “He called over his dad who’s a doctor.”

Beuris doesn’t remember what happened next, when three doctors who happened to be in the stands watching the game rushed on to the field. After doing CPR, they used the school’s defibrillator and shocked Beuris heart back into motion.

Beuris was familiar with the defibrillator, as in his freshman year, it was his job to carry it to the games. "I knew what it was, I knew what it did, but I didn't think it would ever have to be used,” said Beuris of the device.

Cardinal Gibbons has had two defibrillators since 2001, but neither has been used before Saturday. Now the school is buying more, and they don’t come cheap. The school paid several thousand dollars for each one.

"When you're doing your budget, you think $3,000 is a lot of money until you see how priceless this machine is,” said school athletic director Dean Monroe, who has been getting calls from schools across the state about the devices.

He recommends any school that doesn’t have one should get one as soon as possible.

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