Coach of Michigan HS basketball player who died of cardiac arrest finds 'sense of relief' in new law strengthening CPR, AED requirements

DETROIT (WWJ) — The world watched in shock in January of 2023 as Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin collapsed on the field as he suffered sudden cardiac arrest.

Hamlin returned to the field to play in five games last season. He was on-hand Saturday at the Corner Ballpark in Detroit as Gov. Michigan Gretchen Whitmer signed a pair of bills that will better protect student athletes during practice and competition by strengthening CPR and AED requirements for coaches.

Under the new law, all high school coaches will be required to maintain valid certification for performing CPR and using automated external defibrillators. The legislation also requires schools to have a cardiac emergency response plan in place to quickly react in the event that a student athlete experiences a cardiac issue.

Whitmer signed the legislation at Saturday’s event, held in conjunction with the NFL Draft in Detroit, during which Hamlin donated 50 AEDs to schools across the state of Michigan.

That’s a cause Ryan Klingler is quite familiar with, having been a director with the Wes Leonard Heart Team for more than a decade.

The WLHT was formed in memory of Wes Leonard, a junior at Fennville High School in West Michigan who died in 2011 , minutes after hitting a game-winning shot in overtime to help his Blackhawks finish the regular season 20-0. Fennville would go on to play in his honor, winning a Class C district title a week later, making national headlines .

In the 13 years since Leonard’s death, the Heart Team has hosted “Never Forgotten Games” against rival school Saugatuck, while other schools across West Michigan have also held games in his honor. All proceeds from the WLHT have been used to purchase AEDs and donate them to schools across the state and beyond.

Speaking to WWJ’s Taylor Dietz, Klingler — the Fennville coach at the time of Leonard’s death — said he was proud to see the bills make it through the state legislature.

“To me, it brings a little bit of a sense of relief that maybe a coach like myself, or someone close to a student athlete, or even just an athlete, maybe doesn’t have to go through some of the things that I’ve had to go through some of the things that I’ve had to go through over the last 10 years,” Klingler said.

“I think the idea of it just being more prevalent in schools, the knowledge, the education of what it is, how to combat it, brings a little sense of relief that it’s another step in the right direction,” Klingler said.

Cardiac arrest occurs when the heart suddenly stops beating effectively, cutting off blood flow to essential organs like the brain. According to the American Heart Association, nearly seven in ten children survive cardiac arrest in schools with AEDs, which is seven times higher than the overall average survival rate.

HB 5527, sponsored by State Rep. John Fitzgerald, amends the Fire Prevention Code to modify the requirements regarding the implementation of a cardiac emergency response plan for the governing body of a school.

HB 5528, sponsored by Rep. Tyrone Carter of Detroit, amends the Revised School Code to require any individual that serves as an athletic coach at a high school — public or private — to maintain a valid certification in CPR and use of an AED. This certification must be issued by the American Red Cross, American Heart Association, or a comparable organization or institution approved by the Department of Education.

"It's another added way to make sure people who are around young athletes are ready to perform CPR and have an idea of what cardiac arrest is. So it's really making people more prepared for these cardiac emergencies," Klingler said of the legislation.

“Sudden cardiac arrest impacts victims of all ages, races and genders, including those who are entirely healthy and have expressed no prior signs or symptoms — that’s what makes SCA such a serious issue. It can happen to anyone, anywhere and without warning,” Carter said, per a press release.

Cardiac arrest occurs when the heart suddenly stops beating effectively, cutting off blood flow to essential organs like the brain. According to the American Heart Association, nearly seven in ten children survive cardiac arrest in schools with AEDs, which is seven times higher than the overall average survival rate.

Klingler said so far this year there have been seven incidents of sudden cardiac arrests that have been tied to school activities.

"It seems maybe like it doesn't happen, but it definitely is a prevalent issue that we can be prepared for," Klingler said.

Hamlin, who survived his own case of cardiac arrest, told WWJ in the wake of his tragedy, he’s made it his life mission to help prevent SCA deaths.

“It truly can be life-saving. I think it’s important. I actually went to Capitol Hill and I spoke on the importance of AEDs in schools so that kids can have the same opportunity that I was presented with when my life was on the line,” Hamlin said.