Urbandale Honors Lifesavers From Around the Area

Some people count themselves lucky to have one lifesaver. Brad Teale of West Des Moines had a dozen.

Teale was in the middle of a basketball game with his usual teammates at Walnut Hills Elementary School on Oct. 19 when he suddenly passed out, or at least that’s all he remembers.

“I didn’t even have chest pains or shortness of breath,” Teale said. “I don’t remember much.”

Teale didn't die that night thanks to the efforts of 12 men, who pitched in to save his life. The Urbandale City Council honored those men with lifesaver certificates and pins that say, “I made CPR Count,” during a meeting on Tuesday night.

Here's who was honored:

Randy Law, Jeff Bernhardt, Steve Martin and Kelly McClurg of Waukee; Charles Greth and Rick Greth of Clive; Stewart Card of Des Moines; Steve Monoaco of Ankeny; Grant Bolver of Johnston; and Joey Yaukouitz, Luke Vogel and Troy Bothwell of West Des Moines.

Teale went into sudden cardiac arrest, which is not the same thing as a heart attack, although a heart attack can cause it. His teammates didn’t care what had happened to him, they just wanted to help their teammate.

“The debate was whether it was a seizure or a heart attack,” said one of Teale’s lifesavers, Charles Greth of Clive. “I didn’t care what it was, I was determined to wake him up.”

Greth was one of a dozen men playing basketball that night that had a role in reviving Teale. A few started CPR, one called 911, some tried to locate his family and another located the defibrillator at the school and used it on Teale.

Greth’s children attend Walnut Hills Elementary, which is why he knew there was an Automated External Defibrillator (AED) somewhere in the building.

“I remember seeing it somewhere in the building, I just had to run to the place I thought it was and grab it,” Greth said.

Sudden cardiac arrest means "the heart stops," said Fire Chief Jerry Holt. “There's a disturbance in the electrical activity and the heart's no longer rhythmically beating."

The crew of men said the defibrillator had “dummy-proof” instructions on it. They set it up and waited for the machine to check his heart rate. After the machine confirmed he didn’t have a heart rate, it indicated they should stand back and wait for the shock. Teale was resuscitated after a few shocks and ready for the emergency crew when the arrived 10 minutes later.

“These guys deserve all the credit for basically bringing my back to life,” Teale said in front of the council and guests. “The AED said I had no heartbeat, so they literally brought me back to life. A lot of people nowadays are afraid to jump in and do anything but they got right to it.”

Teale had one basketball buddy trained in CPR, Stewart Card of Des Moines who is a physical education teacher. Overall, he had a group of concerned friends determined to save his life.

“I wouldn’t have anyone to guard,” said Card of why he performed CPR to save his friend’s life.

The group has been playing basketball together for nearly 20 years in a casual game. Troy Bothwell of West Des Moines rents the gym each year to play with his usual group of friends.

“When we have these cases we like to spotlight them,” said Holt. “Especially since it's few and far between that outcome in these kinds of cases are so good.”

He praised the men for taking action instead of merely calling 911, which might have been too late for Teale.

If you would like to learn CPR and how to use a defibrillator, or renew your certification, you can contact the , which schedules periodic classes, the American Red Cross or the American Heart Association.