High School Basketball Player Saves Opponent's Life After He Collapses on Court: ‘Pretty Surreal’

Mar. 15, 2025

Stock photo of two young basketball players.Photo:Getty

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A high school basketball player in Oklahoma saved his opponent’s life after he collapsed on the court.

Randy Vitales, a 16-year-old sophomore at Dover High School in Dover, Okla., went into cardiac arrest during a basketball tournament on Jan. 9 at Mulhall-Orlando High School in Orlando, Okla., according to ABC affiliateKOCO-5.

The student reportedly collapsed three minutes into the game against Life Christian Academy. Magnus Miller, an 18-year-old player on the opposing team, rushed in to help Vitales.

Several Dover school coaches determined that the student did not have a pulse, reportsKing Fisher Press.

According to reports, Miller, a trained lifeguard, used an automated external defibrillator (AED) on Vitales. He also led the staff in performing CPR. After the AED restored the teenager’s heartbeat, CPR was administered for about 20 minutes until paramedics arrived.

Stock photo of two people playing basketball.Getty

The Guthrie Fire Department told KOCO-5 that Miller “without a shadow of a doubt” saved the other student’s life.

“I didn’t have any second thoughts about it,” Miller told the outlet. “I just jumped in and took control.”

The 18-year-old went on to call the situation “pretty surreal.”

“It’s weird hearing someone say you saved their life,” Miller said. “But it wasn’t really me. It was God just being there for me and him. Obviously, I didn’t go there to play basketball that day.”

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Vitales was taken to Children’s Hospital in Oklahoma City, Dover Public Schools said in astatementon Jan. 9.

Dover Superintendent Jay Wood told KOCO-5 in a statement that Vitales was a “rock star.”

“As my coaches were administering the AED and CPR, he was the calm and reassuring voice that they were doing everything right,” Wood said. “There were several heroes and a guardian angel in that gym that morning.”

Dover Public Schools established an account at the local CSB bank for those who would like to donate directly to the family to help them pay medical bills, according toa Jan. 10 statement. T-shirts with “Dover Strong” and Vitales’ jersey number “24” were alsosold, with all proceeds going to the student’s family.

Vitales was taken off a ventilator on Jan. 11 and is breathing on his own, reportsThe Oklahoman.

source: people.com