WANGARATTA Magpies coach Dean Stone and a group of players still in premiership celebration mode are being hailed true heroes after saving the life of a father and local cricket star, Barry Grant.
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The real life or death drama unfolded around noon on Tuesday at the Norm Minns Oval when Grant suffered a heart attack and collapsed near the ground he was beginning to prepare for the upcoming cricket season.
Stone, captain Mick Newton, Will Reilly and Zac Hedin were waiting nearby for a bus, which luckily was running late, when Grant went into cardiac arrest.
In another stroke of good fortune, club volunteer Rob Doolan was also at the ground and raced upstairs to grab the club’s defibrillator and returned to the scene.
Stone initially commenced CPR on Grant before Reilly, one of the youngest members of the Magpies premiership winning team, took over prior to the defibrillator being activated.
Grant had to be “shocked” twice with the defibrillator before regaining consciousness ahead of paramedics arriving at the ground.
The group had also dialled Triple Zero and were coached via speaker phone through the ordeal which has had a fortunate ending.
Grant is recovering in a Melbourne hospital after being air-lifted from Wangaratta.
His 51-year-old twin brother, Darren, said the family was indebted to the efforts of the Magpies coach, volunteer and players.
VIDEO: Wangaratta Magpies' duo Mick Newton and Zac Hedin wish Barry Grant all the best. Watch below:
“We are very grateful,” he said.
“Quite often he is down at the ground by himself and he is so lucky they were there to help.”
Doolan said Stone and the players were cool in a real life crisis.
“I thought it was absolutely fantastic what the whole group of them did,” he said.
“No one panicked when things were looking pretty disastrous.
“It’s a better story than the premiership in many respects because it was a life or death situation.”
Stone has known the Grant twins for almost four decades and also praised the actions of his players.
They were into the fourth day of celebrations from the club’s first Ovens and Murray league premiership win since 2008 by beating Albury in the grand final by 21 points.
“It was a simple case of right place, right time,” Stone said.
“I’m sure clubs are always encouraged to have defibrillators and ultimately it is what has saved Barry’s life.
“We all chipped in and did what we had to do.
“But had the bus been running 10 to 15 minutes earlier or even on time none of us would have been there.”
Stone said he had spoken to Grant following the near tragedy and was relieved he was on the road to recovery.
Grant’s son Rhys plays football for O and M league rival, Myrtleford.
They have been playing cricket together for Wangaratta Magpies’ B grade team in recent seasons.
Grant is one of the club’s greatest players captaining the Magpies to five Wangaratta and District A grade premierships including a flag hat-trick in the early 2000s.
He holds the record of 15 A grade WDCA centuries and has been a long-time Country Week participant.
Grant works as a printer at The Border Mail.
AFL North-East Border general manager John O’Donohue said defibrillators weren’t compulsory at clubs, but most had them.
