HANOVER TOWNSHIP -- A medical emergency at a high school basketball game in Luzerne County brought fans from two opposing teams together to save a life.
With just seconds left on the clock, a grandfather’s pacemaker stopped working.
The basketball coach at Hanover Area said it was both the most amazing thing he’s ever seen in his life and the scariest moment of his coaching career.
At the end of it all, everyone in the gym saw what true sportsmanship looked like.
Senior Mike Piscotty practiced with his teammates the Hanover Area Hawkeyes. The game against MMI Prep last month was still on their minds.
“Time was running down. I just look over and I see my grandfather lying down on the ground. I didn't know what to do. I was really nervous. I can't even explain what I was going through at the time,” Piscotty said.
The Hawkeyes were up 18 points with 18 seconds left on the clock when Mike’s grandpa’s pacemaker stopped working.
“The next thing you knew, anybody with any medical training at all was running towards Mr. Piscotty who had fallen out of the bleachers and laying on the ground behind our bench,” Coach Chris Gray said.
In the crowd that night were two parents from MMI with a background in health care and an EMT from Hanover Township. All of them jumped into action and administered CPR.
“It was a right place, right time kind of scenario there. If we weren't there, the outcome could've been a lot different. It's a good thing it happened where it did,” EMT Chris Halecki said.
All of the players put the game behind them and took away something much bigger.
“To see a gym full of people who were rooting against each other for 31 minutes stop in the blink of an eye and come together to quite literally save someone's life was the most amazing thing I've ever seen,” Coach Gray said.
Mike’s grandfather has a new pacemaker and is now recovering. However, Mike said you can bet his grandfather will be back for more games in the future.
“He comes to every one of my games, every one of my baseball games. He's always here for me. Always been supporting me since I was like five. He's been at every one,” Piscotty said.
The Hanover Hawkeyes face off against MMI Prep again on Tuesday night.