Without a doubt, “Tate-to-Holloway” ranks
as one of the greatest moments in Hawkeye football
history. But for one Orlando, Fla., man, it was the
heady performance of the team’s medical staff
that was truly unforgettable. On Christmas night, one week before the Iowa-Louisiana
State University Capital One Bowl contest, the Hawkeye
football team, coaches, staff, and their families
were enjoying a banquet in the Orlando Peabody Hotel
when one of the wait staff collapsed. Joseph Chuva,
50, had suffered a heart attack while carrying a
tray of dishes.
Iowa team physicians Ned Amendola and Paul Baumert,
as well as athletic training staff members Russ Haynes,
Paul Federici, and Kristi Davidson, sprang into action.
Amendola and Baumert immediately administered CPR.
An automated external defibrillator nearby was quickly
brought in, and the electric shock and continued
CPR helped the man regain a pulse. The group stayed
with Chuva until paramedics arrived.
“It all happened very quickly,” says
Baumert, who also is a physician in UI Student Health
Service. “It almost seems like a dream sequence
to me now. It was one of those situations where training
and experience sort of take over. Seeing him minutes
later conscious and talking to the paramedics was
tremendously satisfying.”
“It’s definitely a ‘feel good’ story,” adds
head team physician Amendola, professor of orthopaedics
and medical director of the Sports Medicine Center
in University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.
“This event affected everyone in the room,” Baumert
says. “Throughout that night and the rest of
the trip, people seemed to be looking at each other
and thinking, ‘Wow, life is good, you know?’”
Chuva was taken to Orlando Regional Medical Center,
where he underwent successful quintuple-bypass surgery.
John Streif, UI trainer and travel coordinator for
the Athletic Department, made time to visit Chuva
and his family at the hospital two days before the
game.
Streif brought Hawkeye memorabilia and the team’s
wishes for a speedy recovery.
“He looked outstanding and was doing very
well. He was very appreciative of the doctors’ efforts,” Streif
says.
Chuva himself is emphatic.
“It’s the gift of life, man!” he
said from his home late in January. “I’m
just so grateful that [the Hawkeye] team happened
to be there. It’s amazing!”
And what does Chuva think of the Capital One Bowl
outcome?
“Awesome game!” he said. “That
man Tate looked a little desperate, but he came through
in the end. That’s when true champions show
their skills.”
He was referring to the play on the field, but Chuva’s
words sound like an apt description of the Hawkeye
medical and athletic training staff, as well.
by David Pedersen
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