US Teen Collapsed While Playing Basketball, Saved By "3 Minutes Of CPR"

An 18-year-old basketball player collapsed during a practice match after suffering a cardiac arrest. The incident happened on Tuesday at Winston-Salem Christian School in North Carolina in the US on Sunday night, according to NBC-affiliate WXII. Dejohn Blunt's life was saved, thanks to two members of his basketball team, who used life-saving strategies to help him before the emergency services arrived. Mr Blunt, the teenager who collapsed, said the game involved players only and no adults were around at the time.

He told CBS-affiliate WFMY News that everything was fine until he collapsed.

"We finished the first set and my teammate was talking to me and I wasn't responding," Mr Blunt said. His teammates soon jumped in to help.

"I checked if he was breathing, and I saw that he was not. I started performing CPR," student Simon Koszyca said.

Another athlete James Dowie said he also helped perform CPR.

"It took me two rounds of CPR to get him back and then we flipped him over again. I lost him again. It took me about three minutes worth of CPR just to get him back before the ambulance arrived," Mr Dowie said.

Mr Blunt said since he got to the hospital, he has been feeling better.

"I'm grateful that I'm still alive and still here," the teenager said. "Today's my grandmother's birthday so, I'm glad that I'm able to spend the day with her."

Other members of the team recalled the tense moments after Mr Blunt's collapse.

"I stayed with him, trying to get his attention," a student Szymon Koszyca told WXII. "I was talking to him and he was just shaking - and then he stopped moving."

"I saw his mouth was foaming," said Mr Downie. "He had clearly vomited, and foam was coming out of his mouth."

Before this incident, the three had not spoken to each other much. But now, the bond between them has got stronger.