Rockets forward Hurley steps up in life-threatening situation

In hockey and life, some things are all about instinct and rising to the moment.

And in one scary incident, Ty Hurley’s quick thinking proved to be lifesaving.

The Kelowna Rockets forward was waiting for some teammates in their hotel lobby in Strathmore, Alta. on December 7 when something caught his eye through the glass surrounding the hotel’s pool.

A fully clothed man was bobbing in the water, submerging himself for longer and longer periods of time.

Hurley watched a hotel employee trying to talk to the man as he continued to slide beneath the surface.

Then, he didn’t come back up.

“At this point, I decided I’ve got to do something here. This isn’t right,” Hurley recalled. “I took off my shirt and leaned over the edge (of the pool) and grabbed him by his shoulders and ripped him out of the water. He was probably under there for at least 30-40 seconds. I got him out of there, flipped him on his back and he wasn’t breathing at all. It was pretty scary.”

Hurley’s heart raced as he took quick stock of the situation.

The 19-year-old had taken a life-saving course that covered CPR several years earlier but had never attempted chest compressions on a person before.

Still, he hooked one hand over the other and started to push down on the man’s chest with the whole force of his body.

“You’re not really thinking about anything but the situation. Your mind is cleared out and you’re acting in the moment,” Hurley said. “After 15-20 compressions, he started breathing all of a sudden.

“That was a relief.”

By this point, a small crowd had gathered and an ambulance was on the way.

Fellow forward Ethan Neutens stepped in to aid his teammate and try to bring some semblance of comfort to the man.

“His pulse was weak, his hands had no colour in them at all, he’s barely breathing,” Hurley said. “We flipped him on his side and got him some towels. At this point someone had called an ambulance so we just waited there with him.”

“We were just hoping the guy was alright, hoping he comes out of it on two feet,” Neutens added. “It was pretty scary.”

Alberta Health Services confirmed the man was taken to hospital in stable, non-life-threatening condition.

Hurley and the Rockets are already a province away as Kelowna continues a pre-Christmas road trip through Saskatchewan- but the experience has stuck with him, and highlighted the importance of preparing for an emergency.

“I think it’s great for everyone to do that (lifesaving courses) just in case,” Hurley said. “You just never know what situations you may come across.”