WINSLOW — Lindsey Perkins was trained how to use an automated external defibrillator when she was a student at Plymouth State University. It’s the kind of thing you learn and hope you never have to use.

Now the athletic trainer for Winslow High School, Perkins has had to use that skill twice in five years. The first time, she tried to save the life of Winslow teacher and football coach Pete Bolduc, who died at school in December 2021.

The second time was three weeks ago.

Phil Alley was behind the plate, calling balls and strikes, and he didn’t feel right.

A 10-year veteran umpire, Alley, 48, of Fairfield, was working the softball game between Lawrence and Winslow on May 8. He was looking forward to a vacation that started the next day, a cruise from Florida to the Bahamas with his girlfriend Jodi Cochran, his daughter Keagan Alley, and her fiancé Shawn Evans. In the fourth inning, Alley felt like he had indigestion.

An inning later, the pain hadn’t subsided, and Alley knew it probably wasn’t just indigestion.

“I needed to get off the field because I knew something was wrong,” he said.

Perkins was in the Winslow dugout, tending to an injured player. She doesn’t know if she heard somebody call her name or if she just noticed play had stopped, but she quickly went to Alley. She asked him all the standard questions.

Are you feeling chest pain? Yes.

Is there pain in your left arm? Yes.

Does it feel like heartburn? Yes.

“He answered all the questions with the wrong answers, and that kind of triggered some red flags for me,” Perkins said.

As she led Alley off the field, she made eye contact with Winslow Athletic Director Jim Bourgoin. Trying not to make a big scene and keep Alley calm, she whispered to Bourgoin, “Call EMS.” She knew the automated external defibrillator (AED) was in the John Deere cart she uses to get from field to field on the Winslow campus.

Off the ballfield and behind Winslow’s dugout, Alley took a knee, then lay down in the grass. A pair of women came, identified themselves as health care professionals, and helped Perkins tend to him. They removed his chest protector and shirt, and that’s when he lost his pulse.

Starting this fall, a new law requires Maine schools to have AEDs and staff trained to use them. Winslow already has two, and Perkins used one of them, along with chest compressions, to revive Alley. While she spends her day at Winslow, Perkins and many other high school athletic trainers in central Maine work for MaineGeneral Health Sports Medicine. Every three months, she has a CPR refresher.

Paramedics arrived and took over. Alley remembers coming to as he was loaded into the ambulance, and somebody telling him he just died and was brought back.

Ken Lindlof, Winslow’s boys basketball coach, described Perkins as calm when she’s helping an athlete with a serious injury. She’s earned the trust of all in the Winslow athletic department since joining them in 2021. Her actions with Alley are proof that trust is warranted.

The cause of Alley’s heart attack was a blood clot that blocked 90% of an artery. At Maine Medical Center, a stent was inserted to clear the blockage. Perkins got word that Sunday night, May 10, that Alley was awake and doing well.

“That was the night I could finally breathe again,” she said.

On Wednesday, Alley’s doctors cleared him to resume normal activities, including umpiring softball games. Of course, the first game he wanted to work was at Winslow’s LaVerdiere Field. On Thursday, the Black Raiders hosted Belfast. Alley was part of a four-ump crew, manning second base.

“I said, ‘Man, I’m such a lucky man to have so many people pulling for me and praying for me.’ I felt them,” Alley said. “Someone said, ‘No, that’s not luck. That’s blessed.’ I am. I’m truly blessed.”

Before the game, umpire Dick Dwyer spoke to the crowd on behalf of the umpire’s association, expressing gratitude to Perkins and everyone who helped Alley. Perkins was asked to join them in the pitcher’s circle, where she was presented with a plaque of thanks. Alley hugged her, a hug that can never say thank you enough.

The game started, and Alley took his place behind second base. Perkins took hers near the Winslow dugout. They both went to work.

As he recovered in the hospital, Alley proposed to Cochran, and she said yes. Their family cruise was put on hold, but now thanks to Perkins, they’ll get to take it.