HS football coach suffers heart attack at halftime, continues coaching

A high school football coach in Maryland remained on the sidelines for the entirety of his team's game Saturday after suffering a heart attack following the first half.

Daryl Hayes, the head coach of St. John's Catholic Prep Vikings football team, began experiencing chest pains that eventually led to numbness in his left arm and part of his left leg, according to John Cannon of the Frederick News-Post. He continued coaching, though, and was admitted to the University of Maryland St. Joseph Medical Center after the game, which ended in a 53-0 loss for St. John's.

Hayes' wife, Kelly, said his heart attack was caused by a blood clot that blocked about 99% of the artery connected to his left ventricle. He spent Saturday and Sunday in ICU before being discharged from the hospital Monday.

"He is lucky to be alive," Kelly said. "We really dodged a bullet. It was too close of a call for my comfort, but he made it through. That's a relief."

None of the Vikings' other coaches or players had any idea that Hayes was dealing with a serious health issue during the game.

"I didn't know," Vikings assistant coach Kevin O'Rourke said. "We're on the headphones, we're talking, we're coaching football. He never stopped.

"In fact, I remarked to another coach last night after the game that he seemed the calmest he had ever been coaching. He's quite animated, he's passionate. You know, he's a football coach."