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MIWLAUKEE — When Joe Lemmel saw Buffalo Bills safety Dumar Hamlin collapse on the field during Monday night’s game, he was instantly back on Jan. 22, 1999.
“It hurt so much. I had to turn it off,” Lemmel said. “I couldn’t see it.”
Joe Lemel has lost his 17-year-old son, Adam Lemel. Adam Lemmel died 20 years ago after collapsing while playing basketball in his bay in Whitefish.
“The woman on the bench was right next to him and said, ‘I know CPR,'” Joe Lemmel said. “Do you want to start CPR?” [she asked]I yelled into the stands to call 911. It felt like it took forever. ”
The school they played in didn’t have an automated external defibrillator. When emergency medical services arrived, they repeatedly used an AED in an attempt to save Adam Lemel’s life.
“I could see the flatline,” Joe Lemel said. “They continued CPR and gave him another shock and another flatline.”
After the third shock, I had another flatline. Paramedics took him to a nearby hospital, but it was too late.
“It’s impossible to describe how it feels when they say there’s nothing they can do,” said Joe Lemel.
The heartache experienced by the Lemmel family was unimaginable. His healthy and athletic son died suddenly of sudden cardiac arrest. They wondered if faster access to an AED would have saved his life.
They decided to create Project ADAM in his honor. The organization helps the school obtain his AED and provides the school with resources to help “implement the Heart Chain of Survival.”
“At the time, there were no AED machines and not many people were trained in CPR or AED skills,” explained Allison Thompson of Children’s Wisconsin. “That’s why families and children’s hospitals worked together to create this outreach program.”
Thompson is the National and Wisconsin Administrator for Project ADAM. Project ADAM started in Wisconsin and is now implemented in 29 states nationwide.
“Today, more than 200 lives have been saved by implementing these programs, but these are just the stories we’ve heard,” Thompson said. “There were many more.”
Joe Lemel said he hopes Project ADAM will prevent other parents from experiencing the same tragedy he experienced. He also wants schools to be prepared to give students a chance to survive in the face of medical emergencies.
“Project ADAM was never about me,” said Joe Lemel. “It’s that people aren’t me.”
Joe Lemmel says that even if his son isn’t here, he and his family can be proud of the work that Adam Lemmell did to make sure other students had that chance in his honor. I know what you’re thinking
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