photo by: Kim North

Veteran OVAC basketball referee Bob Montgomery, left, speaks to the crowd Saturday night inside the Tigers Den at Shadyside High School, accompanied by his wife, Sabrina. Montgomery suffered a heart issue on Dec. 12 while officiating a game between Caldwell and Shadyside.

SHADYSIDE — Bob Montgomery walked into the Tigers Den inside Shadyside High School Saturday night for the first time since Dec. 12. It was on that night that the veteran basketball referee was working a boys’ game between Caldwell and the host Tigers.

Midway through the fourth quarter, the unthinkable happened when the long-time whistle-toter collapsed in the backcourt and went into full cardiac arrest, creating a hush over the crowd.

Through the courageous actions of more than a handful of individuals, Montgomery is on the road to recovery. He was in attendance Saturday night as Shadyside celebrated Senior Night when it hosted Buckeye Local in boys’ basketball action.

“Shadyside High School and the community of Shadyside will always be in my heart,” Montgomery told the large crowd during a brief ceremony prior to the game. “It’s a very emotional time for me. They brought me back (to life) twice that night. I’m probably about 50 percent right now, but I’m getting better each day.”

Following the scary incident, Montgomery was transported by members of the O R & W Fire Department to WVU Medicine Wheeling Hospital before being transferred to WVU Medicine Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown and the contest was postponed before being resumed when the Tigers visited Caldwell several weeks later.

According to reports, the first responders were at the gym within six minutes. Following several weeks of being hospitalized, he was allowed to return to his Marshall County home with his wife, Sabrina.

On the game crew with Montgomery that night were Dasyn Hores and E.J. Schodzinski, both of whom returned to the gymnasium for the first time since that night.

“It was a high-intensity game. A good game,” Hores recalled. “I remember going to the other end of the court as the lead (official) when I heard a huge ‘gasp’ in the air. When I turned around I saw Bob laying on the court. All of a sudden a lot of people started rushing to him and, obviously, saved his life because he is where tonight.

“My first thoughts when I saw him laying there was did he trip or something, but then I saw E.J. pull his (Bob’s) shirt back and start doing CPR, so I knew something bad had happened,” Hores added. “My first thought was to clear the benches and get the kids out of the gym, and that’s what I did.

“This was a huge surprise to me. Seeing him walk through that door made my heart drop and gave me cold chills,” the former Martins Ferry and Wheeling University standout athlete said. “He looks great.”

Schodzinski played an even larger role in what transpired.

“I didn’t know what had happened because I was looking at another area on the floor,” he said. “I heard a gasp and knew something bad had happened immediately. I went to him right away, but I still didn’t know what was occurring. It could be a heart issue. He could’ve fallen or he could’ve had something happen with his hip. I just didn’t know.

“Through my previous training and certification, I knew immediately that we had a cardiovascular issue. Right away I yelled out for someone to call 911 and then I yelled even louder for someone to get the AED.”

While the event took just a matter of seconds, Schodzinski said it felt like “a very long time,” but after watching the video, he said the AED arrived in a matter of a minute. “We hooked it up in a matter of seconds.”

A pair of healthcare professionals were in attendance, one in the crowd and another working the concession stand in the hallway adjacent to the gymnasium.

Shawna Coyne, a registered nurse of more than 13 years, was one of them. Koty Jennewein was the other.

“I was working in the concession stand when I heard someone say ‘get the AED,'” Coyne remembered prior to Saturday night’s special presentation. “I honestly thought someone had fallen down, but then I looked in the gym and saw EJ doing chest compressions. I tapped him on the shoulder and told him I could take over when he needed me too.

“Koty Jennewein, the other nurse, was at his head so I just kind of stayed back and waited. At that point, we were a team,” she stressed.

Melanie Haswell, a Shadyside council member and teacher, organized Saturday’s event.

“I’ve known Bob for a long, long time. I got to know him through my mom and dad,” she said. “I saw him that night when he came to the gym. I gave him a hug and asked him ‘you’re still doing this?’ and he said, ‘for 65 years.'”

Haswell said she kept in contact with Montgomery’s wife, Sabrina, and they talked back and forth many times during his recovery.

“I finally asked her what she thought about him coming back to the gym when he gets his strength up and she replied, ‘I think he’d like that.’

“It was very heartwarming and emotional to see him walk through the door tonight,” Haswell said. “I think it’s going to be an emotional night.”

Shadyside High School Principal John Poilek, who presented Montgomery with a Shadyside sweatshirt on Saturday, said the school has had an AED in all of his nine years with the district, but it’s the first time he can remember it being used.

“I was standing at the end of the gym and I saw him go down. I thought oh boy, this doesn’t look good, so my instincts kicked in,” he said. “I ran and got the AED, handed it to our trainer (Rachel Halstead) and she got it hooked up and they started to work on him.

“It was amazing to see him here tonight. I went down and shook his hand. I hadn’t seen him since that night.”

Halstead offered her thoughts on that night.

“I was sitting in the front row on the bench,” Halstead said. “I rushed out to him and tried to get him to respond, but he wasn’t responding. I’ve had a lot of training with an AED, but I’ve never had to use one until that night.

“All that training paid off. It got really quiet because it happened so quickly. I’m not sure a lot of people even knew what had happened.”