RALEIGH, N.C. _ National Emergency Medical Services week began this past Sunday and ends Saturday.
As part of that, Wake County EMS on Tuesday welcomes back to town someone who says they helped "literally saved my life."
Ty Solomon, the S.C. State basketball player who collapsed during a game against N.C. State at PNC Arena on Dec. 2, will join other survivors during the Code: Celebrate event at Reynolds Coliseum on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
Solomon collapsed while sitting on the bench in the first half of that game against the Wolfpack.
S.C. State athletic trainer Tyler Long immediately started CPR on Solomon. Wake County paramedics Greg Rodevick and Rich Eldridge reached the scene a few minutes later and found Solomon had no pulse. They used an automated external defibrillator (AED) to shock Solomon's heart back into rhythm.
Solomon was transported to UNC Rex Healthcare's N.C. Heart and Vascular Hospital, where he spent the next five days in intensive care before being released from the hospital. He returned home to Charleston, S.C., but, on advice of his doctors, didn't play the rest of the season for the Bulldogs.
Wake County EMS responded to approximately 103,000 requests for service of all kinds in 2017. Among them, 120 people survived cardiac arrest after receiving medical assistance from Wake County EMS. That's a single-year record for the organization.
Solomon and S.C. State coach Murray Garvin will speak to the gathering of survivors and first responders during Tuesday's event, which is free and open to the public.
"This event provides an opportunity for survivors and responders to come together and share their stories," Dr. Jose Cabanas, director of Wake County EMS, said. "It's inspiring for our EMS providers to talk with their former patients, meet their families and see the difference they've made in their lives.
