On April 3, 2025, organizers say a young man collapsed while on the basketball court on campus.
At that point, Kolsten Gensler was working as an operations attendant at the gym next door
“I had just gotten switched over and somebody came into the MAC Gym, which is a part of our gym, and they were like, ‘Hey, somebody out here just collapsed.’ So I walk out and I saw who it was, and it happened to be somebody that I knew. He is one of my good friends that I had every accounting class with. I saw him just collapsed on the ground and he was just struggling to breathe. So immediately, I just went over there and made sure, just checked to see if he was OK. You could just tell that he was disgruntled and couldn’t breathe and just, he was purple in the face,” said Kolsten Gensler. “It became a point where he wasn’t breathing, you could tell, and I saw that his eyes rolled back behind his head and I just started doing CPR. Over the course of eight rounds of CPR, I had signs of life over time. ”
Gensler said he continued CPR until he was physically unable to continue, which is when Dominic Vaccarello stepped in.
Vaccarello continued CPR until Dr. Jason Linsenmeyer arrived with an AED. The group continued lifesaving measures until EMS arrived at the scene.
On Friday, the American Red Cross presented them with National Lifesaving Awards, the highest award given by the American Red Cross to individuals who use their skills to save a life.
“You saved a life. That person is going to go on and do amazing things because of what you did,” said American Red Cross Northern Oklahoma Chapter Executive Director Mathew Hitchcock.
For Gensler, he says the saving his friend’s life is all that really matters.
“The certificate and the award mean a lot, but him being alive means the most. I don’t really care about the certificates and awards. I’m grateful for them but just him being alive- that’s all that matters,” Gensler said.
