Trooper credited with saving man at Clifton Park gym

PHOTOGRAPHER: Steven Cook

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State police credit an off-duty trooper with helping to save a man’s life this week at a gym in Clifton Park.

Around 7 p.m. Monday at the Vent Fitness Center on Route 146, a 23-year-old man had just finished a weightlifting routine when he collapsed unconscious on the floor and soon stopped breathing. Working out next to him was Seamus Leavey, a trooper assigned to Troop G, who immediately began CPR and rescue breaths. He got the man breathing again, but only briefly, troopers said.

An employee called 911 and Leavey then directed that employee to bring the facility’s automated external defibrillator, which Leavey used to shock the distressed man. The trooper then continued CPR.

“Trooper Leavey was just about to give a rescue breath when the 23-year-old not only began breathing on his own but stood up and was walking around when EMS personnel arrived at the scene,” according to a state police news release.

The man had no memory of what happened. He was taken for evaluation at a local hospital. Information stored on the AED confirmed that without its use and CPR, the man likely would have died.

“Patrons at the gym, EMS personnel and data obtained from the AED all confirm that Trooper Leavey’s actions and his calm execution of his knowledge and training for events such as this saved the young man’s life,” the release reads.

Leavey is a 12-year state police veteran.