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Diehard athlete still in the game

Bob Hansen had a major heart attack on the volleyball court. But it didn't stop him from playing.

He’s what you might call a diehard athlete.

Despite experiencing a “major cardiac event” in the midst of playing volleyball this past January, Bob Hansen was soon back on the court, serving and spiking to his revived heart’s content, and helping his team win their division this season.

Had he not acted quickly, called paramedics, and taken baby aspirin, life might have ended there for the 63-year-old Thorold resident.

A 20-year veteran of the TCAG volleyball league, Hansen said though his heart attack happened “while we were playing, I didn’t notice it till we got home. I had a really bad pain during the third period. I was extremely hot. I went home and said to my wife, ‘Give me a couple baby aspirins,’ and she called a paramedic friend, and he came over and called 911.”

Hansen was taken by ambulance to Hamilton, he told ThoroldNews.

“They put a stent in. This was on a Thursday night, and we were scheduled to go to the Dominican Republic. If I’d gone, I would’ve ended up coming home in a box.”

Hospital staff told him, “Other people with such major cardiac events” rarely survive.

“Unfortunately,” he added, “I missed four to six weeks of volleyball. I was able to come back, and we won” the C2 division of the league.

It was recently discovered by browsing through old scrapbooks that the league has been growing by leaps and bounds since 1983. This season set an all-time record for participants, with 44 teams playing out of six venues, organized by TCAG program manager Jenn Douthwaite.

Executive director Dan Pelletier welcomed some of the 400 players who capped off the season with a buffet banquet this week, and told them, “It’s good to have a crowd that’s almost too big for this room, and nice to have everyone here at the mother ship,” of TCAG headquarters at 131 Richmond Street.

“Now you are part of something you don’t see every week when you play volleyball,” he added. “We have programs running here every day for families and children, and you are helping support that.”

Douthwaite announced the winners of the league’s five divisions: Lou’s Brew Crew for A division, the Gryphons for B1, Bump My Balls for B2, Dig This for B3, The Ballers for C1, and Net Ninjas for C2.