After wrapping up a 24-hour shift as a firefighter in Toledo, Ohio, this past weekend, Myles Copeland went to New York to suit up for his other job, a player for Toledo Glass City of The Basketball League, for a playoff game against the Jamestown Jackals.
But his two worlds collided near the end of the first quarter of Saturday's game when a referee, John Sculli, passed out on the court and became unresponsive. It happened across from Toledo's bench, and instantly, Copeland sprang into action. He checked Sculli's vitals, but didn't feel a pulse or see him breathing, so Copeland began administering CPR until paramedics arrived. "It was kind of instinctual. It surprised me how quick I was able to switch into that mode, especially being in a basketball game," Copeland said during a phone interview with ESPN on Wednesday. "But with being a firefighter, when you're off the job, you're really not off the job. You still got to keep an eye out for the community and what's going on around you."