High school student revived with defibrillator after collapsing at New York basketball game

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) — A western New York high school student was revived with an on-site defibrillator that’s required under state law after collapsing during a junior varsity basketball game Wednesday, authorities said.

Police in Rochester credited quick access to an automated external defibrillator with saving the 15-year-old boy’s life.

The Monroe High School student collapsed from apparent cardiac arrest about 5:30 p.m. as Monroe played the School of the Arts at the John James Audubon School No. 33, authorities said.

A school safety officer and athletic trainer used the defibrillator before emergency medical crews arrived and the boy regained consciousness before being taken to a hospital, where he is in stable condition and improving, school officials said.

Officials canceled the rest of the game, as well as the varsity game that was to follow.

The boy’s name has not been released.

State lawmakers and then-Gov. George Pataki approved a law in 2002 that required all public schools to have defibrillators. The legislation was spurred by the 2000 death of 14-year-old Louis Acompora when he took a blow to the chest during a high school lacrosse game on Long Island.