Not all heroes wear capes. Los Angeles Rams defensive coordinator Raheem Morris is a prime example of this.
Morris and his family were at the Encore in Las Vegas this past weekend on a vacation. While they were posted up at the pool, the longtime NFL coach noticed a child drowning in the pool. That’s when Morris jumped into action.
According to Morris’ wife, Nicole, the three-year-old boy had no pulse when he was taken out of the pool by his father and brought over to a lifeguard. The lifeguard ended up performing CPR on the young kid. Morris then rushed over to see if there was anything he could do. The following is absolutely crazy.
“I saw people calling 911 so my first question was, where is the AED (automatic external defibrillator)? When I got back, we had a doctor on site that was able to start the compressions. I was able to hand the AED to him, get it open for him, put the pads on the child, and he ended up being OK.”
Raheem Morris on helping save young child from drowning, via ESPN.com
Morris credits training from the Rams sports medicine team as one of the reasons he was able to understand what was happening and go retrieve the AED. The device is used when someone is experiencing cardiac arrest.
It became a major story during the 2022 NFL season when Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin collapsed on a field during a game against the Cincinnati Bengals in January. Those on the scene inside Paycor Stadium used the device to help restore his heart to normal rhythm, saving Hamlin’s life in the process.
As for the Raheem Morris situation and what happened in Las Vegas, Hamlin just recently spoke on Capitol Hill in support of the Access to AEDs Act.
“Sudden cardiac arrest happens to more than 7,000 kids under the age of 18 every year in our country. The majority of the kids impacted are student athletes. Research shows that 1 in every 300 youth has an undetected heart condition that puts them at risk,” Damar Hamlin told Congress back in March.
It’s not yet known what would have happened to the child if Encore didn’t have access to the AED device. But Raheem Morris’ quick action could have very well saved a young life. Awesome stuff here.