Yahoo Sports Rams DC Raheem Morris helped save drowning child in Las Vegas pool
Raheem Morris ran to grab an AED and helped rescue a drowning child last weekend
Los Angeles Rams defensive coordinator Raheem Morris helped save a drowning child last weekend at a Las Vegas pool, he told ESPN’s Paolo Uggetti on Wednesday.
Morris was with his family at the Encore Las Vegas when he saw a 3-year-old boy start to drown in the pool. After people helped get the child out and to the lifeguard, Morris’ wife said on Instagram, the child didn’t have a pulse.
As the lifeguard started CPR, Morris rushed to grab the automated external defibrillator, or AED.
"I saw people calling 911, so my first question was, where is the AED?" Morris told ESPN on Wednesday. "When I got back, we had a doctor on site that was able to start the compressions. I was able to hand the AED to him, get it open for him, put the pads on the child, and he ended up being OK."
The child, per ESPN, was discharged from the hospital the next day.
Morris credited the recent CPR and AED training the Rams underwent for his knowing how to use the AED in that situation — something teams across the league have done since Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin’s terrifying collapse during a game last season. A trainer performed life-saving CPR on Hamlin after he sustained cardiac arrest on the field.
Hamlin has since hosted trainings and pushed the importance of AEDs and CPR training throughout the league and the country.
“I’m just thankful I knew what to do,” Morris said via ESPN. “You just never know when you’re going to need that stuff.”
Morris is set to enter his third season as the Rams' defensive coordinator this fall. He landed with the team after serving as the Falcons' interim head coach in 2020 after the franchise fired coach Dan Quinn.
