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Young Hero Performs Miracle on Baseball Diamond
Teenager Steve Smith, a Babe Ruth League participant from Manassas, went into cardiac arrest after an unusual play. Smith was running from second to third base during a practice game when the catcher threw the ball, accidentally hitting him under the left arm pit. The ball hit his heart, causing commotion cordis, a lethal disruption of the heart rhythm, and he went into cardiac arrest.
When Steve’s father, Tim, who also was a coach for the team, got to Steve, he noticed his son was unresponsive and yelled, ‘Does anybody know CPR’”
There was only one person on the field who did – Steve’s friend and teammate, Paul Dow, who recently learned CPR training to become a lifeguard. When Paul realized his friend had no pulse or heartbeat that scared him for a while because he knew Steve was dying. Paul didn’t know if Steve was going to be okay because he did die in his arms. But Paul continued doing compressions as they waited for paramedics while he relied on his faith in God.
When EMS workers arrived on the scene, they successfully revived Steve with a defibrillator before airlifting him to a trauma hospital in Fairfax.
Steve was in a medically induced coma for three days before he woke up. When he did wake up in the hospital, his dad told him that Paul saved his life. Steve said he remembered getting ready for baseball practice the day of the accident, but nothing from practice itself.
Paul was one of his first visitors. Steve said it was tough to find the right words to thank his friend and he felt like there was nothing he could do to repay him. When someone saves your life you want to give so much more. Before the accident, Steve and Paul were teammates and friends. Now they consider themselves brothers.
Tim Smith will tell you his son was basically gone. His body was stiff and his eyes rolled back in his head. Because of Paul Dow’s heroics on the baseball diamond that day, declared brothers Steve Smith and Paul Dow will be in Aberdeen, Maryland at the Cal Ripken Major/70 World Series on Saturday, July 30 to throw out the ceremonial first pitch of the 5:30 p.m. game.
Wins and losses pale in comparison to the miracle performed on a Babe Ruth League baseball diamond in Manassas, Virginia. The Babe Ruth League program is about so much more than runs on a scoreboard or trophies that await champions. It is about a commitment to youth, providing them with teachable moments and memorable times. It is about camaraderie that develops into lifelong friendships. It is about life’s miracles that develop into true brotherhood.
All of us in Babe Ruth League are proud to have Paul Dow and Steve Smith on our team.
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