LOVELAND, Colo. -- A Loveland High School student is being called a hero after saving a life of one of his classmates. Doctors said the teen is very lucky to be alive after his heart stopped during band practice on Tuesday.
The student, Zander Kunselman, fell onto the football field track. He wasn't breathing and was turning blue, witnesses said. Kunselman's friend, Tyler Royse, did not wait for paramedics to arrive.
"I just learned CPR last year," Royse said. "I did not get any pulses or breaths from him."
Royse then started chest compressions and rescue breathing, buying precious time.
"Every minute counts, every second counts," Loveland High School resource police officer Bruce Boroski said.
Along with paramedics, Boroski was called to the scene. He wasn't far away.
"I did about two cycles of CPR when officer Boroski came up and took over for me," Royse said.
Boroski said he asked Loveland's football coach to grab the radio off his belt while he was doing compressions so he could still communicate with dispatch to give them the information they needed. It was teamwork that played out perfectly.
Royse said band members were running a mile and a half workout when his friend since middle school collapsed.
"[Zander is] a great kid," Royse said. "Very fit. That's what caught me off-guard. He was so physically active, and his heart just stops."
After initial CPR was performed, teamwork continued. Assistant principal Kevin Clark rushed in with a defibrillator.
"The AED -- it kind of does the work for you and it's analyzing the heart," Clark said. "It's telling us back up, it's going to administer a shock."
After the first shock, Kunselman's pulse returned just as paramedics arrived to the football field, Clark said.
"I believe this is a great testament to teamwork all the way from the beginning of the CPR to calling 911 to dispatch calling us," Boroski said.
Now that teamwork continues at Children's Hospital Colorado in Aurora, where Kunselman's parents said their son is doing well -- a positive ending to something that could have turned into a tragedy.
Royse's takeaway message for the community is to learn CPR.
"The chances are very slim getting into this situation but it happens," Royse said. "Life is fragile."
As of late Thursday, there was still no diagnosis for Kunselman. Doctors were still trying to figure out what happened and will continue monitoring him for at least a week.
His father said his son is in good spirits and has been making his nurses laugh.
