TAMPA, Fla. — An afternoon track practice at a Tampa high school last week almost turned tragic for a teen athlete, but tonight he’s resting at home thanks to quick action from school staff and first responders, who brought him back to life using CPR and an AED.
Ansel Laureano, 17, doesn’t really remember anything from last Tuesday. The senior at Leto High School just finished up track practice warm-ups and ran a sprint, when he collapsed on the ground and stopped breathing.
After his teammates alerted Coach Lauren Palek, she rushed over while calling 911 and immediately began performing CPR.
“Our athletes were truly amazing. They immediately alerted me that something was not right. I feel like our students really acted with poise beyond their years,” Palek said.
“The 911 operator, I want to say thank you, because I didn't feel like I was by myself because she was counting,” Palek added.
Around the same time, Leto Assistant Principal Scott Hazlett ran over with the school’s AED or automated external defibrillator. They shocked Laureano while listening to the operator’s instructions.
“The quicker you can get there to provide aid, the bigger the impact you can make,” Hazlett said.
They kept tending to Laureano as first responders arrived. Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Deputy Deena Biland was first on the scene. She immediately continued CPR and worked to play another AED with paramedics on site.
“If there was any hope that he was going to survive I was going to seize that opportunity to do anything we could,” Biland explained.
Adding, “Thankfully prior to our arrival Leto has a very well-trained staff their assistant principal and the track coach had already applied AED and began compressions,” which Biland said led to a much favorable outcome by the time Laureano got to nearby St. Joseph Hospital.
“If it wasn’t for them I wouldn’t be alive right now, I’m thankful we had all those people nearby, and an AED at the school,” Laureano said in an interview with 10 Tampa Bay.
While he doesn’t remember much, his mom remembers the terrifying call from the school.
“It was terrible, terrible. It's just something like you are in the moment and you don't believe it,” Bismeiry Lantigua Brooks, Ansel’s mom, said.
Even watching the dramatic video of his rescue captured on Biland’s bodycam is too hard for her to bear.
“I saw a moment and oh my god I cried again and I’m not trying to cry again. It's terrible. It's terrible,” she added.
But their family couldn’t be more thankful for the quick action from school staff, first responders and the hospital, that gave a promising young man another shot at life.
“I think God chose the right person to stand next to him,” Lantigua Brooks added. She says doctors have still not determined what exactly caused her son to collapse.
Ansel says for now, he’s going to take it easy on the track and the field, but he’s itching to get back to school and finish his senior year with his friends.