Students and staff at a high school saved a teacher who collapsed while playing basketball with students Sept. 30.
Frank Holiday went down after taking a shot at North Point High School in Waldorf, Maryland, according to WBALTV. Students immediately went to get help from another teacher.
Frank Holiday, a welding teacher at North Point High School, suffered an almost impossible-to-survive severe heart attack during a class back in September. https://t.co/pPXoocNKhu
— NBC4 Washington (@nbcwashington) November 17, 2022
Charlie Burch, a teacher at the high school, was next door, the outlet reported. “All of a sudden, I heard yelling and screaming down the hall. A couple of [students] ran in my room and said, ‘Something happened, he just passed out,'” Burch said.
Charles County Sheriff’s Cpl. Tiffany Smith is the school’s resource officer and also responded to the scene. “In my training and experience, he was dead on the scene. It was, I think, about 21 minutes of continuous CPR between everyone,” Smith said, WBALTV reported. (RELATED: Mountain Lion Attacks Teenager And Her Dog In Reno)
Holiday reportedly suffered a “widow maker” heart attack, the outlet reported.
“It’s overwhelming to think the amount of people who didn’t give up, and I’m here today,” Holiday said, according to WBALTV. “If it gets hard, don’t quit. I think that’s the lesson. I really think it’s a gift from God that I’m here – 100%.”
The local school system honored those who came together to save Holiday, according to NBC Washington. Holiday expects to be back to teaching in early December.