Belmont Middle School basketball coach Ian Haffer performed the ultimate act of sportsmanship during a game at Waltham’s John F. Kennedy Middle School last Thursday.
Three minutes into the boys game, the Waltham coach suffered an apparent heart attack. Haffer, a doctor who worked for seven years in a hospital setting, led the response to save the coach. According to Haffer, the last he heard, the Waltham coach is now recovering.
“I’m really happy to hear that (the coach) is doing better, speaking and recovering,” Haffer said.
Haffer, a 2002 Belmont High School graduate, has coached the middle school boys basketball team for five years. He’s also in his first season leading the middle school girls. A Medford resident, Haffer previously coached football, baseball and girls volleyball at Belmont High School.
Early in the first quarter of the boys game, the game came to a sudden halt.
“All of a sudden I heard a scream, and I looked to the left, and the Waltham boys coach was lying face down unresponsive,” Haffer said.
The 41-year-old ran over and assessed the situation. While it was initially unclear what exactly happened, the coach’s skin tone began to change after about 30 seconds. Haffer checked for a pulse and breathing, and at that point told other staff to get the Automated External Defibrillator (AED) and call 911.
The AED was used first to administer a shock, then Haffer began conducting CPR. Roughly 10 minutes later, the coach began breathing, even without a normal heart function. After another shock, paramedics took over.
“At one point, they did say he was responding, but his heart wasn’t beating properly,” Haffer said, “so they continued CPR and he kept getting shocked by the machine to get his heart in the right rhythm.”
Haffer then turned his attention to the kids, the entire boys team and some girls players stayed to watch the boys game and travel home on the bus. He called Athletic Director Adam Pritchard to inform him of the situation. The game did not continue.
Some parents got their kids home and others went home with Haffer on the bus. Pritchard met them at the school.
“It was a great response by (Pritchard) and all the parents were great,” Haffer said. “A lot reached out to me, making sure I was OK. It was quite emotional. It was just a lot.”
The school offered support for the kids in the following days. Since the incident, Haffer has received numerous emails from Waltham parents grateful for his response.
“I know a lot of kids were scared seeing a medical emergency,” Haffer said. “His head was bleeding pretty badly as well. It was a terrifying scene. I’m used to a lot of events like this, but the kids seeing this at a sporting event, it was a lot. I’ve been just trying to check in with them.”
The season will continue with their final game tomorrow against Weston. The girls play at 4 p.m., and the boys follow at 5:15 p.m. at the high school’s Wenner Fieldhouse.
