HSV team doctor rescues collapsed elderly fan during friendly

Great excitement broke out during HSV's test match against 1. FC Heidenheim (3:1) in Kematen near Innsbruck. Shortly before halftime, stadium announcer Walter Ostermann loudly and repeatedly called for an ambulance. A medical emergency necessitated the multiple announcements. Out of respect, both Hamburg and Heidenheim fans immediately stopped supporting their teams.

HSV Doctor as Emergency Rescuer

It took until the end of the halftime break for an ambulance to arrive—ultimately, two emergency vehicles appeared. When HSV team doctor Dr. Wolfgang Schillings (54) heard the almost pleading calls from the announcer's booth, he immediately grabbed his medical bag, which he always keeps ready at the substitute bench, and ran to the accident site.

There lay an elderly gentleman who may have suffered circulatory problems due to the intense heat currently prevailing in Tyrol. The spectator was reportedly unresponsive for a short time after falling to the ground.

Since no other doctor was present at that time, the Hamburg physician immediately attended to the patient. By then, the patient was at least able to speak again, but was reportedly still not fully lucid. Dr. Schillings, a specialist in physical and rehabilitative medicine, reacted immediately and inserted an IV line for an infusion. The person apparently could not stand on his own legs but was said to have been in a stable condition throughout.

The HSV doctor did not take his eyes off the man for a second, even helping with the transport to the ambulance, holding the infusion bag high so that the fluid could flow into the patient's vein with the help of gravity.

Only when the patient was safely loaded into the emergency vehicle with the assistance of paramedics and the drive from the stadium toward a hospital began did Dr. Schillings pack his medical bag and return to his HSV protégés, who were just starting the second half of the test match.