After 'Cardiac Death,' OPRF Coach To Return To Game

OAK PARK, IL — Just over a month ago, Oak Park-River Forest football coach John Hoerster suffered what's known as "cardiac death" while he was out of town with his family. The condition is exactly what it sounds like and the prognosis is grim. Hoerster's heart had stopped beating for a full 12 minutes, leaving him with a roughly 10 percent chance of survival, Chicago Tribune reports.

The 42-year-old father of three beat the odds, though, and will be coaching OPRF starting Friday.

Hoerster collapsed without warning while on vacation in North Carolina after suffering what he told Chicago Tribune was diagnosed as "cardiac death." After a family member performed CPR, an ambulance arrived and Hoerster was transported by ambulance and then airlifted to a hospital in Norfolk, Virginia.

According to Chicago Tribune, Hoerster began to show signs of life during the helicopter flight and was "thrashing about."

After days of recuperating, Hoerster underwent quadruple bypass surgery on July 13. He was back on the sidelines at Oak Park-River Forest High School coaching football practice exactly a month later.

For now, Hoerster will coach games from the press box at Oak Park-River Forest High School, but that won't slow him down. The coach, humble and headstrong, told Chicago Tribune that his cardiac death was merely "a slight stumbling block."

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