Photo courtesy of Kelly Loft Emergency personnel surround basketball official Jeff Schroder after he collapsed during a game on Sunday.

MARSHALL — Jeff Schroder has officiated basketball for 25 years. It’s a profession where officiating crews often get a lot of flack from fans and coaches since every call they make is either for or against a team. But during a men’s basketball contest on Sunday afternoon at Southwest Minnesota State University, people in attendance truly had Schroder’s back.

After the 46-year-old suddenly collapsed while officiating the SMSU and Wayne State College game, staff from both institutions immediately rushed over to start life-saving procedures.

“(SMSU head athletic trainer Laura Crowell) and I got to the spot where he fell and we both knew he was in trouble,” SMSU head men’s basketball coach Brad Bigler said. “Our instincts just took over from there. I saw a lot of very talented people step up and save his life.”

Three certified athletic trainers — Muffin Morris (Wayne State), Lauren Palsgrove (SMSU) and Jess Swedzinski (Big Stone Therapies) — quickly joined in to help with the rescue.

“I told Brad to call 911, so he ran to the scorer’s table to do that,” Crowell said.

Soon after, a Nashville, Tennessee, doctor (Jeremy Walker) and a Waterloo, Iowa, nurse (Lois Sinram) — who happen to be Bigler’s brother-in-law and godmother — joined the effort.

“I was very thankful that he was there,” Bigler said. “I believe God had a plan for that moment — for why Jeremy was there. Originally, my sister (Julie) and the kids were coming. Then his schedule opened up late for him to be able to come here for New Year’s.”

Bigler explained that Walker was respectful and watched initially after getting to the scene.

“He didn’t want to overstep his bounds — until the code red happened,” Bigler said.

While Schroder had been briefly holding his own, those assisting suspected it was just a matter of time until the situation intensified.

“I did a ‘Look, Listen and Feel,’ looked at Jess and Muffin and then asked them if they had a pulse or respirations,” Crowell said. “They said ‘No’ and that’s when Jeremy dove in. He did compressions, while I did breaths. Lois was telling us whether Jeremy’s compressions were effective or not. And Lauren and Muffin got the leads on.”

Fortunately, an automated external defibrillator (AED) was near the home team bench.

“They say the odds of having a positive experience with CPR without an AED are really low, so we all carry them,” Crowell said. “The AED is a device that is super easy to use. You put the leads on and everybody steps back. The machine actually accesses the patient. So if there’s not a shockable rhythm, then the machine won’t administer a shock. But if it’s a shockable rhythm, it will say shock required.”

Then someone pushes a button and delivers a shock.

“Your odds for having a successful outcome without that are very small,” Crowell said. “With the AED, they’re very good. I think Jeff might not be with us if this wasn’t in the gym. I just think you can’t make a strong enough case for having them accessible.”

Schroder’s family is especially grateful for its availability, and for the people who were on hand to help revive their loved one. According to his wife, Larissa Schroder, he is currently recovering from quadruple-bypass surgery on Tuesday.

“We’re so fortunate he has a second chance at life,” Larissa Schroder said.

The Schroders have two daughters, ages 13 and 18, and live in Brandon, South Dakota.

“The support has been amazing — from people in Marshall, Sioux Falls and Brandon,” Larissa Schroder said. “Everybody has been great. It’s actually been overwhelming.”

Schroder said doctors aren’t 100 percent sure, but they suspect that her husband’s heart attack and the cardiac arrest that ensued was caused by a small piece of plaque that shook loose.

“They said it’s been brewing since he was in his 20s,” she said. “They think a little bit of plaque shook loose and caused blockage.”

While he’s struggling a little bit with nausea caused by the pain medication, Schroder said her husband “is doing OK.”

“They’ve got him up and walking,” she said. “Jeff was out of surgery by 2 (p.m.) and by 10:30 (p.m.), they had him up and sitting on the edge of the bed. Then they moved him to the chair. Since 5 a.m. (Thursday), he’s been up and walking three times already.”

The incident on Sunday is not only a prime time to advocate for AEDs in public places, but also for people to get regular health checks.

“Three or four referees we know have made appointments to get their hearts checked,” Schroder said.

Schroder said she anticipates her husband returning to the court as an official again. He has a close-knit relationship with officiating partners Levi Pearson and Jimmy Ricketts, Jr., she said.

“I know he’ll return,” she said. “He loves it. He also loves the camaraderie. If he could do reffing full time, he would.”

As the longtime basketball official and his family begin working through the recovery process, people in attendance are taking time to reflect on the incident.

“Having seen it from the stands before and watching something similar, you’re sitting there in the stands and feeling helpless,” Bigler said. “I’m sure you could’ve heard a pin drop in there. It was so quiet. It’s a strange feeling. It’s one that, until you’ve been through it, you don’t understand that feeling.”

Bigler added that he had a renewed appreciation for his brother-in-law’s abilities.

“I’ve always known he was a doctor, but you don’t realize how talented they are until you see them in action,” he said. “I thought Jeremy was pretty calm and collected. He was moving and pulling and adjusting with a little different intensity. Not too long ago, he saved a person’s life by giving directions over the phone. He was prepared for this moment.”

Bigler acknowledged that it was a group effort, though, including the paramedics from North Memorial who arrived on scene.

“I was just amazed at everyone’s effort,” he said. “I just really appreciate the people coming from the stands, along with our staff and Wayne’s staff, stepping up and doing the right things.”

Crowell said she felt like she was still processing what happened.

“I don’t know if I’ve ever been so relieved before,” Crowell said. “It was incredible when he came back.”

Kelly Loft, SMSU athletics communication director, said the SMSU community was especially proud of the way people handled the situation.

“It was a very surreal event, but it was amazing to see everyone stay calm and help revive the game official,” Loft said. “They saved his life.”

Erin Lind, Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference commissioner and SMSU alum, was also impressed.

“Kelly called me right when it was happening,” Lind said. “As a former alum, I had Laura as an athletic trainer and the Wayne trainer is a dear friend of mine. I made sure I talked to both of them that evening. I was also able to tell them that his surgery was successful, so they were extremely grateful to hear that. They have amazing staff. If it was going to happen to Jeff, he’s fortunate to be surrounded by those people.”

About 745 people were in attendance at Sunday’s game, including a lot of children.

“There were a lot of young children there, especially since it was Mini Mustang night,” Bigler said. “My daughter, Taleigha, watched the whole thing so it was pretty impactful. She had questions, so we’re helping her process that. You’re just trying to talk about the effort, talk about that this can happen to anyone and that’s it’s positive that we saved his life — that it could have been a lot different.”

The SMSU men’s basketball team was also debriefed and probably will be again in the near future.

“We talked to them after the game and again on Monday,” Bigler said. “You never know how much you need to talk to them. I don’t think any of them have seen anything like this. We should probably talk to them again to see how they’re processing it.”

Bigler said the biggest thing is to know that he survived.

“I think they witnessed, maybe, a little bit of a miracle,” Bigler said.