‘He was gone’: Nestucca players save life of new coach from Lincoln City during first summer practice

By NIK STRENG/The Oregonian/OregonLive

Nestucca’s first day of summer football practice started like any other.

On June 17, the Bobcats took to the field without any football gear and started their warmups. New offensive coordinator Frank Elsasser ran the team through some basic exercises.

They did basic calisthenics and Elsasser did the warmup with the team to ensure they knew what they were doing. And that’s where the normalcy of the first day of practice ended.

While he’s lived in nearby Lincoln City for a long time, few people in Nestucca knew him.

Elsasser lined the team up on the field to show them the new offense he was itching to run. He said he felt light-headed and collapsed on the 27-yard line.

“He dropped to his hands and knees and then he started to get back up and he just face planted and then he was breathing heavily, really loud,” said Nestucca senior Zeth Chapin. “So we flipped him over onto his back, and that’s when he went silent.”

With only coaches and student-athletes around, everyone jumped into action.

Assistant coach Kenny Hurliman and multiple members of the team began administering CPR to Elsasser. Senior Tegan Slavens — who is a volunteer firefighter and paramedic — was the first to do chest compressions, breaking Elsasser’s ribs so they could pump his heart manually.

“I felt for the pulse and everything,” Hurliman said. “He was gone.”

Slavens and junior Brady Hurliman quickly ran into the school and grabbed the automated external defibrillator.

“I ripped the AED out of the box and told my head coach to get out of the way,” Hurliman said.

The students, who had only met Elsasser minutes before, slapped the AED pads on his chest and jump-started his heart on the football field. The machine then displayed instructions for the student-athletes to follow as paramedics arrived.

Paramedics asked the players who among them knew how to administer CPR. Part of Nestucca athletic director Tevin Gianella’s health class is to get students CPR certified, so almost everyone was able.

“Most of the team lined up,” Chapin said. “And then they were doing CPR and that’s when they finally got a pulse back. So they loaded him up in the back and took him off.”

Elsasser woke up in the hospital the next day. The football team took the rest of the week off and the school district provided counselors for those who wanted to talk about what happened.

Elsasser had heart surgery on June 25.

The following week, the team returned to its regularly-scheduled optional summer practices. And the coaches were surprised at the turnout — nearly everyone who had come to the first day of practice returned.

“We received a full buy-in from the team,” said head coach Michael Ward. “I got to be honest, I was a little lost. I had just lost my offensive coordinator on our first day of practice. I didn’t know what we were going to do. But we truly came together as a football team.”

Ward said every student who was on the field helped save Elsasser’s life. Many helped with chest compressions or helped the paramedics unload their gear. Players say the emergency turned into a bonding experience.

“It showed us all what life really is, I suppose,” said Chapin. “It was a traumatic situation for most everybody and just going through that together, having to walk each other through it, definitely brought us all closer.”

Elsasser recovered and returned to the field less than a month after his heart attack. He was supposed to take more time off before returning to practice, but Ward needed help walking the team through the offense.

Trying to get it all figured out over the phone wasn’t working, so Ward became a chauffeur for Elsasser, who wasn’t yet allowed to drive himself. Elsasser returned to practice on July 14.

“He’s like, ‘I’m coming to get you and you’re coming to practice.’” Elsasser said. “So I was like, ‘Hell yes. Please’.”

Elsasser said he was unsure of what the reaction was going to be, as he had only known the players for a brief while.

“When I walked onto the track, I was like, holy cow, Frank’s here,” said Kenny Hurliman. “It was definitely emotional, you know. The last time I saw him was laying on the field and onto the stretcher and into the ambulance. I mean, actually witnessed him dead for a minute.”

Elsasser was touched by the warm welcome.

“It was a weird moment where, like, they’ve all seen me at my worst and some of these guys I barely know. So, it was good it was a good moment,” Elsasser said. “They were all hyped.”

Coaches say the experience has made the team members a lot closer with their new coach. Brady Hurliman said Elsasser went from being a stranger to almost another father figure.

“He’s became a way more important coach than I ever thought he’d be,” Hurliman said. “To me he was just a guy. He was my offensive coordinator, my quarterback coach. And now I see him as a friend in life. A guy I can say, ‘Wow, I saved that guy’s life.’ And to me that’s really cool.”

Hurliman said he thanked Gianella for ensuring that students get CPR certified in his health class, as they ended up using that in a real world situation.

“I’m really grateful that he does that class at the school and I think every kid should take it just if something ever happens,” the team’s quarterback said. “I mean, you never know when someone’s going to drop on the ground and you’re going to need to use it.”

Kenny Hurliman said he was amazed watching his son spring into action the way he did.

“I didn’t know my son was CPR certified to tell you the truth,” Hurliman said, laughing. “All the kids obviously learned that in their CPR class. It was pretty cool and I’m really proud.”

• Nik Streng covers high school sports for The Oregonian/OregonLive and can be reached at nstreng@oregonian.com