To view our videos, you need to
enable JavaScript. Learn how.
install Adobe Flash 9 or above. Install now.

Then come back here and refresh the page.

June 2011. Some of the best young lacrosse players in Central New York are trying out for an elite team at the FM athletic fields.

“We had our practice plan for what we were going to do. We had about sixty kids there,” said Jeremy Roberts.

“Things were going normal. It was a normal tryout,” said Guy Calandra.

But the day changed in an instant, when coach Guy Calandra saw a player go down.

Calandra said, “The air was leaving his body it seemed like. His eyes were back. He couldn't respond. I screamed for Jeremy.”

“I got there and Danny was face down on the ground,” Roberts said. “I felt for a pulse. There was no pulse and began CPR.”

The coaches worked together, one ventilating, the other performing compressions, on the fallen player. Daniella Reilly was also nearby.

“I was just a mom there watching my son,” Reilly said.

But she quickly began assisting with the CPR process.

“I started chest compression then Cynthia came with the EAD,” Reilly said.

“He had no heartbeat. I delivered the shock and pretty much instantly there was a heart rate and BP returned to normal,” Cynthia Kelder said.

“There were a lot of people doing exactly what had to be done and in the right order. It's scary to think how perfectly it went, but obviously, the result is he is here,” Calandra said.

Exactly what needed to be done to save a young life.

“He’s an amazing boy, his parents are amazing, he has two great little brothers. It’s overwhelming,” said Reilly.

Dan Cochran was back on the field the very next day, competing for his spot on the team, thanks to another team of Real Hero All-Stars.

“I'm glad god put us in the right place at the right time. We had never met each other before, but we worked as a team that day,” Roberts said.

Rome Free Academy coaches Guy Calandra and Jeremy Roberts, FM athletic trainer Cyndi Keller and Daniella Reilly are your 2011 Red Cross Education Real Heroes.