“Just bizarre.”
Salem coach Liz Briggs said it best.
Briggs, like everybody else at Southern New Hampshire University Sunday night, is wishing Londonderry coach John Fagula a speedy recovery.
With 1:16 remaining in the Londonderry-Salem game, he collapsed. The gym was absolutely silent afterward. But give all the credit in the world to the trainers, officials and especially Hanover girls coach Dan O’Rourke — a physician — who came to Fagula’s aid.
Luckily, Fagula appeared to be OK, at least relative to how bad it looked when he fell.
The man certainly won’t be denied. Even while being tended to by O’Rourke on the Londonderry bench, he was giving his players instructions.
And when the game ended and the paramedics arrived, Fagula had to be gently coaxed by O’Rourke to accept a precautionary trip to Elliot Hospital.
The cause of the fall, as I noted in Monday’s story, was unclear at press time. Fagula has had heart trouble (he had triple bypass surgery in the fall) and is a diabetic. He appeared to be breathing fine after he fell.
It’s totally different — Fagula’s a coach, not a player — but it was hard not to think of the late Reggie Lewis and Hank Gathers when Fagula fell.
Thankfully though, Fagula got up. Here’s hoping he’s feeling better soon.
I’ll be checking in again soon on the girls hoop front. Central Catholic-Lexington and Andover-Lowell should be two good ones.
