RICHLAND, Mich. — After a week-long stay in the hospital, a grandmother who collapsed at a baseball field last weekend is back home.
It happened last Sunday at the Art Van Sports Complex in Rockford. Authorities said two physicians who were guests at the complex were called to help when 60-year-old Esther Brown collapsed.
With the help of the complex's manager, the three individuals used the on-site Automatic External Defibrillator (AED) on Brown, who was resuscitated within minutes. Once paramedics arrived on scene, Brown was conscious and taken to the hospital for further care.
Kim Griffin says her mom is still very much in shock, but feels lucky to be alive.
Kim and her mother, Esther, were walking up to a baseball game to watch her grandsons play ball, when Esther collapsed and went into cardiac arrest.
"I was just shocked," Griffin said. "I was walking in front of my mom, I turned around and she was laying there face flat on the concrete."
Kim says it's never happened to her mother before, but doctors say the woman collapsed because a section of her heart was only functioning at 30 percent.
Kim says her mother wasn't breathing and was turning blue.
"I know timing is of the essence and every second counts, without this device my mom would not be here with us today," Griffin said.
Now, Kim is using her mother's scare to stress the importance of AED's.
"Whether it be a sporting event, church, or workplace, I can’t stress enough the importance of this device, it saved my mother’s life," Griffin said.
Esther's grandson ended up winning the championship that day. But for this family, the real winners are the doctors, bystanders and AED that helped save Esther's life.
"I can’t thank everyone enough for just coming over and helping my mom," she said, thanking all firefighters, paramedics, and doctors who helped that day.
Kim says doctors inserted an internal defibrillator in Esther's heart that will shock her heart back into rhythm if her heart stops beating again.
With a few more doctor visits Kim says her mom will be back to living a normal life.
