Quinnipiac Coach’s Quick Action Helped Save Teen’s Life

WEST HAVEN, CT — A Quinnipiac University coach’s quick actions are being credited with helping to save a West Haven teen’s life over the summer and a free CPR training session is being held Thursday in her honor.

The New Haven Register reports that Dave Clarke, head coach of the Quinnipiac women’s soccer team, began performing CPR on Laci Lewis, 14, after she went into cardiac arrest after a summer soccer practice at the FCF Arena in Hamden. EMTs arrived on the scene and continued the life-saving effort and took her to Yale-New Haven Hospital.

John Lewis, Laci’s father and the executive assistant to West Haven Mayor Ed O’Brien, told the Register that without Clarke’s initial treatment, the outcome could have been quite different. Laci had open heart surgery in August to correct a congenital heart defect and is expected to make a full recovery. (To sign up for Hamden breaking news alerts and more, click here.)

In Laci’s honor, the “Learn for Laci” CPR training session will take place from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Thursday (Sept. 7) at the Savin Rock Conference Center, located at 6 Rock Street in West Haven. The event is free and open to the public.

“The American Heart Association will be in West Haven with their mobile training center to teach CPR to anyone interested in saving a life,” reads the flyer for the event. “This brief introduction to CPR is meant to give the tools you need to help a person suffering from cardiac arrest. The event is free and open to the public.

“Show up anytime between 4-8 pm. Each learning session is only a few minutes. This is a life skill that everyone should learn. If you Learn for Laci you learn for Life.”

Read more about the coach’s actions and Laci’s recovery at the New Haven Register here.

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