Standing in the batter’s box during an October 2022 practice at Iona University in New Rochelle, New York, Nick DiCarlo was planning to bunt the next pitch and run to first base.
Instead, the fastball that came toward DiCarlo at 80-plus miles per hour hit him in the chest. He took two steps and collapsed.
DiCarlo’s coach, Conor Burke, and teammates rushed to him. He wasn’t breathing.
The coach started CPR. An ambulance was dispatched and paramedics used a defibrillator to restore his heart to a normal rhythm, then rushed him to the hospital.
Doctors put the 19-year-old sophomore into a medically induced coma to help his body begin healing from the trauma. DiCarlo had an MRI to check for potential damage to his brain and spine. Because doctors found no problems, they were able to transport DiCarlo to a trauma center in New York City that was better capable of providing the care he needed.
Further testing showed that DiCarlo had experienced commotio cordis, a rare cardiac arrest immediately following a blow to the chest over the heart during a precise moment in a heartbeat. The sudden impact disrupts the heart rhythm and causes the heart to stop.
