Local

Seton grad saved by teammate after baseball accident

Zoey Dimauro | Catholic Herald

Steve Smith sits in the hospital with Paul Dow, the teammate who saved his life.

1469542238_d706.jpg

It was a hot summer’s eve and, as usual, the Manassas boys’
baseball team was on the field. Steve Smith, a recent
graduate of Seton School in Manassas, had made it to second
base. As he ran to steal third, a stray ball hit his chest
and stopped his heart.

When the chest is hit by a strong blow at a certain moment in
the cardiac cycle, as Steve’s was, the injury -commotio
cordis -causes cardiac arrest. The extremely rare event
usually affects adolescent males and, according to Medscape,
has only a 58 percent survival rate.

Before Steve could hit the ground, one of the coaches caught
him mid-fall. His father, Tim Smith, younger brother, Noah,
and the whole team ran toward him. “He was unresponsive,”
said Tim. “His eyes rolled to the back of his head – he had
basically died.”

Tim asked if anyone could perform CPR, and player Paul Dow
began chest compressions. An ambulance arrived 10 minutes
later and shocked the teen back to life.

As Steve was airlifted to the hospital in Fairfax, Tim picked
up his wife, Mary Jo, and drove to the hospital. On their
way, they let their friends from Seton and All Saints Church
in Manassas, as well as family members, know what happened.
In between, they prayed Hail Marys.

Meanwhile, Catholics and non-Catholics alike on the baseball
team headed to the Seton chapel and began to pray. Tim
received texts and calls from dozens of people letting him
know they were praying for his son. Some had never prayed
before.

“The outpouring of love and prayers was unbelievable. That’s
why God let this happen, there’s no doubt in my mind,” said
Tim.

When he and Mary Jo arrived at the hospital room,
Father Stefan P. Starzinski, Catholic chaplain at Inova
Fairfax Hospital,
had already administered anointing of
the sick. Steve had no brain swelling, said the doctors, but
was put into a medically induced coma so that his body could
recover.

The small waiting room began to fill with people and Father
Thomas P. Vander Woude, pastor of Holy Trinity Church in
Gainesville, led them in the sorrowful mysteries of the
rosary. Later, after his parents went in to see Steve’s
progress, they prayed the glorious mysteries, “because he was
resurrected,” said Tim. “It’s the hardest I’ve ever prayed
and thanks be to God, it came out alright.”

Steve was injured Thursday, July 14, and by Saturday, he
began to recover. On Monday he was released, with only the
admonition not to play baseball for a few weeks and to return
for a follow-up visit. “He has no residual damage. As far as
we know, he has no more brain damage than he did before,” Tim
joked. “It’s totally miraculous.”

After his release from the hospital, Steve watched his team
play at regionals, all the while begging to play himself, his
father said. This fall, he’ll continue playing baseball at
Belmont Abbey College in North Carolina.

Di Mauro can be reached at [email protected] or on
Twitter @zoeydimauro.

Related Articles