She left as a hero.

During the game, a foul ball struck the forearm of the home plate umpire, Karen Waible. She recalls immediately feeling the pain it caused as the ball struck her arm.

“It was extremely painful,” Waible said.

As her arm began to bleed, Waible left the field and went over toward the dugout in search of a bandage. Things moved quickly from there, as the ordinary occurrence of a foul ball turned into anything but an ordinary reaction.

Marla Kelly looks on as Karen Waible delivers a ceremonial first pitch Friday evening in Dunkirk. Kelly administered CPR to Waible during a medical emergency three weeks prior.

“I sat on the bench and I started to feel woozy. The last thing I remember was someone helping me to the floor of the dugout,” Waible said.

Fortunately, Kelly was in attendance, with decades of experience in the medical field. Kelly worked 15 years in the emergency room at Westfield Memorial Hospital and roughly 17-18 years as an Emergency Medical Technician with the Brocton/Portland Fire Department and Alstar EMS. She currently works at Westfield Family Physicians.

Kelly was called over to the dugout by another parent who knew of her medical experience.

“I sprung up from where I was sitting, went over to the dugout, and saw that something more was going on with Karen,” Kelly said.

Another parent from the home team in Grand Island assisted Kelly as she began to administer first aid. Kelly was attempting to get a response from Waible, but did not get any response.

Marla Kelly delivers a first pitch at the Chadwick Bay Softball Bash in Dunkirk on Friday.

It was then that she lost her pulse. From there, Kelly began to administer CPR. After more than two minutes of chest compressions, Kelly said, “We got her back.”

Waible was talked into going to the hospital, where all the tests came back in her favor. An electrocardiogram (ECG) and bloodwork all “came back normal” and X-rays were negative. Waible believes that the sudden pain led to a loss of consciousness, as she appeared to be in shock. Her umpiring partner, a chiropractor, said she looked pale and appeared to be in shock when the incident occurred.

An Automated External Defibrillator (AED) was on-site roughly 200 yards away, but Waible’s sudden incident required immediate attention. Waible said looking back on the event that she feels fortunate to have had “experts in the fanbase.”

Waible and Kelly were reunited on Friday evening in Dunkirk to throw ceremonial first pitches together at the Chadwick Bay Softball Bash. Kelly threw the pitch first, then signed a ball for Waible, who followed with a pitch of her own.

Chadwick Bay Coach Kory Ahlstrom started a fundraiser following the incident to support the purchase of an AED for the Dunkirk Little League. As of the first pitch, 35 donations totaled $1,900 to purchase the potentially life-saving equipment. Grand Island Little League also contributed to the purchase and presented Kelly with a plaque for her heroism on Friday.

“We are blessed that all involved survived the day, and all the girls at the tournament learned a lesson of heroics and being trained, not one of tragedy,” Ahlstrom said.

While the injury was not necessarily preventable, the quick actions in response showed the importance of medical training in an emergency. Waible said she has been inspired to seek CPR training herself.

Waible said she has gained “a lot of perspective on life” since the incident occurred. Many of her umpiring colleagues have reached out to her since the incident, as well as teams from throughout the region, whether they were there that day or not. She has received cards, emails, phone calls, texts, videos, and even cookies from the community wishing her well.

“It has been heartening, the good cheer I’ve gotten afterwards,” Waible said.

Kelly’s perspective has also changed since that day. She said, “Just cherish the days, because you never know. Life is short, just be prepared for something as simple as a foul ball.” Kelly hopes that people take away from the incident how important CPR training is.

Waible returned to umpiring a dozen years ago. Even as frightening as the incident was, she will “absolutely” continue to umpire games moving forward.

“I’m just thrilled to see her and to know that she’s doing fantastic and will still go out there and go ump,” Kelly said.