The "Quigs, A Humble Hero" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Reading the headline on the front page of our local daily which said: "Quick action saves coach's life."  The sub-head read: "Manheim Township High School trainer uses defibrillator, CPR to revive patient."  Wow!  Story dealt with a friend of mine who worked at the high school where I taught, Manheim Township High School, and is in his 25th year of being the athletic trainer and teacher.  

Photo of "Hero" Dan Quigley I took for the
1992 Manheim Township High School yearbook.

Dan Quigley, or Quigs as everyone calls him, began his athletic training craft as a high school student.  Seems Quigs wasn't as tall or weighed as much as his high school classmates so when the football coach asked him if he wanted to be a manager, he jumped at the idea.   The following year his coach once again asked him if he wanted to be the trainer and after reading about the responsibilities and learning how to tape ankles, he became involved in yet another facet of football.  By the time he was a junior he knew that athletic training was the profession he wanted to pursue.  Shortly after graduating from Lock Haven University he came to Manheim Township School District as the athletic trainer.  The kids loved Quigs.  All three of my kids were involved in sports and Quigs was always there to nurse them back to health when they sprained an ankle or got hit on the head by a line drive.  Dan eventually became the Chairman of the Pennsylvania Athletic Trainers Society (PATS).  Well, as years pass by, the life of an athletic trainer gets to see just about everything associated with high school sports.  So, this past November 20th, Quigs was working and hanging out in the Trainers Room when he was called on for perhaps the most important task of his life.  Seems the  girls' varsity basketball team's assistant coach had collapsed on the court, falling unconscious on the gym floor.  

Hero Dan as he appears today.

Some of the girls quickly rushed to the Trainers Room to alert Quigs about the stricken coach.  The coach's heart had gone out of rhythm and he was dying.  Quigs immedia- tely began CPR forcing breaths into the coach's lungs and pumping his chest.  He then used an External Defibrillator unit to try and shock his heart.  The second shock from the defibrillator got the coach's heart back in rhythm.  Shortly, the local hospital's medics arrived and took the coach to the hospital.  The Athletic Director at the school, who had watched Quigs do his miracles called his actions "Heroic."  The coach is now back on his job and hugs Quigs every time he sees him.  Naturally Quigs downplays his role in saving the life of the coach, but without Dan's skills and knowledge, and the fact that there was a defibrillator on site at the school, the coach would more than likely have died that day in November. The school district or maybe Manhiem Township Commissioners should present Quigs with some sort of medal or plaque.  I passed along an email to Dan expressing my family's thanks for what he did.  Heavens, he saved a life!  Not everyone could have done that!!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.