Firefighter Myles Copeland who plays basketball for the Toledo Glass City Basketball Club was at the right place at the right time. Referee John Sculli collapsed from a heart attack while refereeing a basketball game. Sculli has been a sports referee for nearly 40 years. Firefighter Copeland who has worked as a firefighter for 25 years immediately started CPR on Sculli until emergency responders arrived.
“It’s what they train you for, run toward the emergency, don’t run away from it,” Copeland explained to WTHR 13.
“I ran over to him, checked if he was OK, checked his pulse and his breathing, and I didn’t feel anything, so I instantly started CPR,” Copeland told Toledo TV station WTOL.
“Everyone since then has been calling me a hero. It just doesn’t click in my mind that I’m a hero. It’s just a small act that I perform. (It) feels like I just did CPR another day on the job,” Copeland said.
“I hear all these things about our young men, our young African American men, what they’re not, and what they aren’t, but he represents everything that’s good about our young people today,” said Magley.
“There’s so many great young men that we see that never get to be seen like Myles, and I’m just honored that he plays in our league.”
