NORMAL – Kai Bates-Diop made University High School’s first basket against Corn Belt Conference foe Pontiac, tying the game at 2-2, matching a basket by Indians four-season team manager Chas Holt made to get the game started, an arrangement agreed upon between the two teams. As soon as he sank his shot, Bates-Diop took to the sidelines.
For Bates-Diop, the bucket was his first and only bucket of the night and the final one of his playing career. From the time he sank the points to when he came off the court, he was applauded and cheered by the standing room only crowd at the school’s large gym. The sophomore suffered a cardiac arrest during a practice in that same gym Feb. 9.
The quick actions of Pioneers training staff members skilled in use of CPR and an automated external defibrillator, or AED, helped the trainers save his life.
During the practice, Bates-Diop, a sophomore, collapsed. Trainer Maddie Biehl started using compressions on the boy’s chest, assisted by trainer Richard Leon. Biehl and Leon needed to use AED to shock 6 foot-5 Bates-Diop’s heart into restarting. As that was taking place, another trainer, Emily Martz, called 911. Trainer Stephanie Stephens also assisted in the triage trainers did until Emergency Medical Technicians arrived to take him to a hospital.
He was airlifted to a Peoria hospital where he had open-heart surgery. He returned to school for the first time since the surgery Friday, topping off his day with the layup.
Biehl describes the Pioneers’ practice session on the day of the medical episode as “typical†until Pioneers team member Trey Heffner burst into the training room to say Bates-Diop had collapsed. Trainers Biehl and Leon began applying AED, while the authorities were called.
Stephens said she believes students and their parents “have learned an enormous lesson about the role athletic trainers play in an athletic setting along with the importance of CPR and AEDs.
At halftime of the U-High-Prairie Central contest, Pioneers training staff members were honored and thanked by the Bates-Diop family for their life-saving efforts.
Outside the gym before and during the game, the American Heart Association had a display set up explaining the importance of CPR and AEDs. The school also raised money by selling baked goods and T-shirts. The shirts had a heart with Bates-Diop’s number 13 and “Kai†inside a heart on the front. On the back was written, “CPR And AEDs SAVE LIVES,†as well as the school’s logo.
Wilma Bates-Diop, Kai’s mother, addressed fans during the halftime event, joined by her husband Richard, and older son, Ohio State University basketball player Keita. “On behalf of our entire family, my husband Richard, Keita, and Kai, we want to thank the U-High family for having the resources to save our son’s life. There aren’t enough words or actions to ever express our gratitude.â€
Over 1,000 T-shirts have been purchased to help the fundraising effort. “Thank you all for being part of our family,†Wilma Bates-Diop concluded.
The trainers were honored with certificates for their efforts by the school and the American Heart Association.
Two Incidents Needing AED Use In Two Straight Months: Exactly a month prior to Bates-Diop’s medical incident, on Jan. 9, during U-High’s girls’ home game against Prairie Central High School, U-High parent Kari Niebur, mother of Pioneers’ junior varsity player Lexie Niebur, suffered a cardiac incident in the bleachers prior to the Pioneers-Hawks game. Fast thinking and actions on the part of Linda Ziemer, another U-High team parent, with assistance from Biehl and Joel Smith saved Niebur’s life. Smith, a parent of a Prairie Central player, is also an EMT. Kari Niebur is recovering at home currently, but Lexie expressed her appreciation and thanks to Ziemer and Smith during the halftime ceremony.
Incidents Prove “Trainers Don’t Just Do Rehab And Tape Anklesâ€: As a result of these incidents, Biehl said, “Parents have come to realize that trainers don’t just do rehab and tape ankles. Sometimes, we have to save a life.â€
“We’ve seen two miracles in this gym in the last six weeks,†U-High’s Athletic Director Wendy Smith told the halftime gathering. “In both, we’ve had the right people in the right places to have such a positive outcome.â€