CNYCENTRAL.COM
by Jackie Napier & WHAM Staff
VIDEO

Rochester, N.Y. (WHAM) — Two Rochester City School District employees are credited with reviving a 15-year-old boy who went into cardiac arrest during a basketball game Wednesday.

Authorities responded to John James Audubon School No. 33 around 5:30 p.m. after the student collapsed during a junior varsity game between Monroe and School of the Arts.

Positioned at opposite ends of the gym, school safety officer Jushawn Rucker and athletic trainer Dave DiPasquale jumped into action and deployed an automated external defibrillator (AED) to begin life-saving efforts.

“The situation really elevated when I hooked him up to the AED machine and the machine said ‘shock advised,'” Rucker said. “That’s the first time I’ve ever heard an AED machine I’m using on an actual person say ‘shock advised’ — and that was like the wake-up call for me.”

Both men humbly said they were just doing their jobs, but Superintendent Carmine Peluso called the men heroes.

“We were working together perfectly,” Rucker said. “He knew what I was going to do next; I knew what he was going to do next.”

The district said the student regained consciousness and was taken to Strong Memorial Hospital, where he is in stable condition and “steadily improving.”

“We heard that first voice, it was like a miracle. I was elated,” Rucker said. “Everybody was emotional. I was emotional. He was emotional. The team, they were coming up, giving us hugs, calling us Superman.”

Rucker and DiPasquale shied away from the term “hero” — saying they were just looking out for the students they love.

“We were blessed to be there, and the family’s blessed and we are so happy that this young man is able to spend Christmas with his family,” DiPasquale said.

“These are our babies,” Rucker said. “I come to work every day and my job is to keep these kids safe. I treat everyone like they’re my own.”

The student’s name is not being released. The game did not continue, and the ensuing varsity game between the two schools was not played.

Hours after the incident, Rucker learned the young man whose life he helped save happened to be his best friend’s nephew. He said the victim even called him later to thank him.

“That was a great relief for me,” Rucker said. “Having him go out on that, you’re sitting there wondering all day, all night long, wondering if he’s alright.”

Peluso said the two men saw someone in trouble and acted without hesitation.

“Right place, right time works when you have the right people ready to act,” he said.

“They’re heroes.”