How to save a life: Hollister family thankful as anniversary nears
BRANSON MO NEWS: For a moment on Oct. 18, 2016, Zach Smith was dead.
A sudden heart attack struck. However, the work of school staff, paramedics and cardiologists brought him back.
Nearly a year later, Heather Smith, the mother of the current senior at Hollister High School, still thanks the school staff who jumped into action for keeping her family together and helping save her son’s life.
“I just want them to know how thankful we are,” Heather Smith said. “Without them, he wouldn’t be here today.”
Jumping into action
When Pete Leonard, teacher and head basketball coach at Hollister High School, thinks back to that day, he remembers noticing Zach Smith working with a group of military recruiters.
“(Military) recruiters were in and I noticed Zach was doing pull ups on the pull-up bar and he was doing pretty good, and we just went back to eating. I noticed him get down and walk to his table, I don’t know why I noticed it, but I did. He walked over to his table, over to his girlfriend, and fell flat on his back.”
After alerting Hamon, teacher and head football coach, to call 911, Leonard said he began to assess the situation. He said Zach Smith’s skin was already discolored.
“I could not find a pulse. He was not breathing.”
According to Zach Smith, he remembers a feeling of lightheadedness.
“I just remember getting real light-headed and then falling over,” Zach Smith said.
With paramedics on the way, Hamon said he alerted Randall Hey, the school resource officer, to retrieve the automated external defibrillator, commonly referred to as an AED.
With a 911 operator giving instructions on the phone and Hey performing CPR, Hamon said the group, along with Brenda Collins, nurse for both the middle and high schools at Hollister, administered …
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