CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The Tuloso-Midway High School head football coach detailed to 3NEWS what he and others did to try to save the life of Gillette Middle School Coach Marco Contreras.
Contreras collapsed just before the H.M. King High School football game Friday at Tuloso-Midway. He died at a nearby hospital.
Tuloso-Midway Head Coach Kris O'Neal said he and other trainers used a defibrillator to immediately work to save his life. A police officer and an off-duty firefighter also joined in on those lifesaving efforts.
"My athletic trainer, I saw him move quickly to the area; that caught my eye, obviously, and immediately I was really proud of all of our staff," he said. "We started moving kids, AEDs, dialed 911, all of that was done within about 60 seconds."
Ismael Villarreal is the T-M athletic trainer and was the first to begin the life saving efforts on Contreras.
"I rushed to his side, he was still sitting in a chair. I assisted him to the ground and then we went ahead and attached the AED pads right away," he said.
Villarreal said he keeps always keeps a defibrillator nearby. He said the devices are vital in trying to save someone's life. He says the sooner you attach them to a person's chest the better the outcome.
"I've used the AED and began administering CPR. I was the first one then quickly a PD officer which I'm so bad at names and I apologize to them both," he said. A PD officer saw me and right away, started assisting me and then an off-duty fireman was here for the game, he came down and was basically facilitating so there was three of us working on him until EMS arrived."
O'Neal said he praises his athletic trainer and everyone else who stepped up to help during the traumatic event.
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