Wofford LB kept for observation at hospital after collapsing on sidelines

Wofford head coach Mike Ayers (Getty Images).

Wofford linebacker Michael Roach was kept at a hospital overnight for observation after he collapsed on the sideline during the team’s game with Tennessee Tech on Thursday.

The team said Roach was alert and responsive after he was transported to Cookeville (Tennessee) Regional Medical Center. Roach had started at outside linebacker for the Terriers and collapsed during the third quarter. Per the school, he was attended to by team training staff, doctors and EMS.

Here’s how GoUpstate.com described the scary scene, which began when he fell forward off a bench onto the ground:

Roach, a junior linebacker from Kenosha, Wis., was down on the ground and emergency responders, Wofford doctors and athletic training staff first, were frantically working on him. They cut off his jersey and stripped him bare from the waist up. They pumped his chest.

It was so quiet that everyone could hear the EMS workers yell, “Clear!” before using a defibrillator, the paddles that restart the heart with electric current.

“He stopped breathing for a little bit,” said Dr. Stephen Kana, team orthopedist. “But we got him back. Fortunately, everybody did what they were supposed to do. …It was a scary deal.”

Roach was transported to the hospital via ambulance after he was attended to on the sideline. Wofford won the game 21-7.

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“It was a very difficult situation tonight,” Wofford coach Mike Ayers said via the team’s website. “We are lucky to have a great medical staff that took care of the situation immediately. When you have something happen in a game like that it is a shock. I love every one of these kids and I am thankful everything will be alright. I thought Tennessee Tech did a class thing coming together with our team. It was a tough, hard fought game and they have some players. I am proud of the way that our defense responded and proud of our offense taking care of the ball. We had a great camp and had our guys ready for the game.”

Roach tweeted Thursday night that he would be back soon.

Thanks to all who prayed and reached out to me. It truly means more than you know. Proud of my brothers for getting the W! I'll be back soon

— Michael Roach (@_michaelroach_) September 2, 2016