Such was the case on Dec. 1 when a rookie fireman from McKinney briefly stopped performing CPR on an 18-year-old woman who collapsed at a University of Mary Hardin-Baylor basketball game.
The woman, Jae Lytle, a freshman at Texas State in San Marcos, eventually had the life shocked back into her by a portable defibrillator device that was in the basketball arena.
Fireman Lee Barbosa has been treated like a hero since he did compressions on Jae’s chest while Dr. Mark Falke, a Thorndale dentist, puffed breaths of air into her lungs.
But there was a moment in the effort to save Jae when Barbosa gave up hope and stopped CPR only to be told to keep going by three certified CPR instructors from UMHB.
“Once you start you don’t ever stop until somebody with more authority tells you to,” said Jimmy “Doc” Rowton, a former UMHB head athletic trainer who was on the scene. “Paramedics had already been called.”
Barbosa said the week before Jae’s collapse made it a year that he had been on staff with the McKinney Fire Department.
“I’m a real rookie,” he said. “This is one of the greatest things to happen to me. She came back to us.”
Barbosa’s superiors heard about his role in saving Jae from e-mails sent by Belton Assistant Fire Chief Bruce Pritchard. Barbosa said McKinney’s assistant city manager and its fire chief had recognized him for the event.
Rowton said those assisting in the effort were able to find Jae’s pulse after a single shock from the defibrillator.
He praised the event staff working the game for removing railings in the stands so emergency medical technicians could get there easily.
“She was just very lucky that everything worked as smooth as it did,” Rowton said.
Jae recognizes her good fortune and has called Falke and others to thank them.
“People told me before, it’s all about timing,” Barbosa said. “I’m a firm believer in that now.”
Jae’s father, Dave Lytle, said she is recovering at home and he anticipates she will want to go back to school after Christmas break.
“We’re planning a very grateful and thankful family Christmas this year,” he said.
