A Suwanee man has rebounded quickly from a potentially fatal heart attack with the help of his basketball buddies and lifesaving technology.
It was nearing halftime during a recreational league game at Suwanee Sports Academy on Dec. 19 when Mike Lulko suddenly felt dizzy. With his wife and two children watching in the stands, the 49-year-old collapsed.
His teammates -- Ken Manning, Will Hamilton and Lance Cook -- work in the medical imaging business and are trained in CPR. They took turns trying to resuscitate Lulko, but couldn't get a pulse. That's when Manning yelled for someone to retrieve an Automatic External Defibrillator from the lobby.
"I hooked him up, and he was almost in a flatline," Manning said. "His heart was in ventricular fibrillation, which means his heart was just kind of quivering there."
The portable machine quickly diagnosed Lulko. It said "shock advised," so Manning applied electrode pads to his friend's bare chest and pushed the button to deliver an electronic shock to his heart. Within about 30 seconds, Lulko was coming around.
Doctors would later tell Lulko that his chances of survival were slim had his friends not thought to fetch an AED, and had the Suwanee Sports Center not had the foresight to purchase one. Lulko experienced no prior symptoms of heart trouble, but heart disease runs in his family. His father died of a massive heart attack at age 39.
"Without that defibrillator, I wouldn't have gotten up off that floor," Lulko said.
Officials from the Gwinnett County fire department will visit the Suwanee Sports Academy at 9:30 a.m. Friday to recognize the business and applaud the three rescuers for their actions.
Jeremy Webb, who supervises the fire department's Community Risk Reduction Education Program, said last year there were 652 cardiac and respiratory arrest calls in Gwinnett alone. Webb believes more of those calls would have positive outcomes if all public facilities invested in AEDs, which can cost between $970 and $2,000.
Lulko is back in the gym and playing sports. The teammates say his brush with death has brought their friendship to a new level.
"I think we'll always have that bond," Manning said.
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