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High school cheer captain performs CPR and saves classmate‘s life
Kennady Kasteler, a 17-year-old Brighton High School cheerleader, saved the life of a classmate at a local recreational basketball game in Sandy, Utah. (Photo: Anna Richey Photography)

High school cheer captain performs CPR and saves classmate‘s life

SANDY, Utah (BVM) Brighton High School cheerleading captain, Kennady Kasteler, never thought she would use her training as a lifeguard to save the life of a friend. She describes it as a “life changing experience,” and says she reacted quickly and calmly due to “muscle memory” from repeated in-service training and instruction at her job as a lifeguard.

Kasteler was attending a local recreational basketball game where several friends were playing. While sitting in the bleachers, someone ran in from another game and asked for medical help. She figured someone had a broken bone or maybe hit their head. So, she decided to look around the partition separating her from the players in the other game.

She saw some friends crying and hugging and heard a person on the phone talking to a 911 operator. Moving closer, she noticed that the 17-year-old player lying flat on the court did not look right. She also realized that it was her friend from school, Mike le Fear.

Kasteler heard a mom who was taking his vital signs say, “He’s not breathing and there’s no pulse.”

Without thinking much about it, Kasteler sprang into action and said to the mom, “I’ll start compressions while you do breaths.”

The 5-foot-3 teenager began compressions on the 6-foot-3 basketball player’s chest with all her might. Meanwhile, rescue breathing was being administered by the other mom — a registered nurse. The duo continued for what seemed like forever. Soon, paramedics arrived and continued lifesaving efforts as groups of teenagers were ushered into the hallway in scared silence.

le Fear’s mom finally arrived as Kasteler prayed that she had performed CPR well enough and that her efforts would save his life. After being transported to the trauma hospital, Kasteler learned that le Fear had suffered a seizure and his heart stopped. She waited at the hospital for hours and was told that he was alive, sedated, and had to undergo testing to begin a long recovery.

A few days after the medical incident, Kasteler, her friends, and the other mom who performed rescue breathing were able to visit le Fear after he was brought out of sedation. He was on his way to recovery and was soon released from the hospital.

Doctors installed a medical rescue device into le Fear’s chest that will automatically shock his heart back into rhythm should anything like this happen again. While he underwent some mild physical therapy to finish recovering, he was back at school a few weeks later.

Although le Fear couldn’t play basketball for a while, he came to a high school game as a spectator and helped present Kasteler with a certificate of appreciation from the Utah Attorney General’s Office, recognizing her courage and bravery.

Kasteler says she is just grateful that she was in the right place at the right time and that she was just doing “whatever she could to bring Mike back”.

Kasteler is now a freshman on the University of Utah cheerleading team and continues to be a lifeguard at her local pool. She says she will always share a special bond with le Fear, his family, and the others that were there that night in a way that is difficult to explain.

She also hopes everyone will learn basic lifesaving skills in case someone else finds themselves in her position.

“Life is precious, and you never know when you might be able to be there for someone in their time of need,” Kasteler said.