UMass Memorial doctor honored after performing CPR on ailing umpire at youth game in Oxford

OXFORD ― A local doctor sprang into action and saved the life of a baseball umpire during a Little League game last week.

Philip Davis, a league official, was at the game July 11 in Oxford when umpire Korey Pontbriand was hit by a pitch and later collapsed. Dr. Jennifer LaFemina, who was in the stands watching her son play in the game, performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation on Pontbriand.

“Jennifer was at the game for a reason,” said Davis, president of the Oxford Little League. “She’s his guardian angel. Without her there, this would have been a tragedy at a Little League baseball field.”

LaFemina, a surgical oncologist at UMass Memorial Health who lives in Southborough, and Pontbriand declined to be interviewed for this story.

Davis gave this account: A pitch that ricocheted off the ground hit Pontbriand in the throat, he went down, was immediately checked by game officials, and switched from behind the plate to field umpiring.

LaFemina and a nurse asked to examine Pontbriand, looked him over, and suggested he go to the hospital, said Davis. Pontbriand refused, returned to the field, and around the fifth inning Davis said LaFemina told him that Pontbriand should leave the game because she noticed he was struggling physically.

Pontbriand was taken off the field and collapsed while being evaluated. LaFemina performed CPR, and Davis said the doctor asked him to get a defibrillator, so he rushed to a nearby fire station to get one.

“By the time I got back, and we hooked him up, (LaFemina) had brought him back to life with CPR,” said Davis. Emergency responders arrived and rushed Pontbriand to a local hospital. He is currently at UMass Memorial Medical Center, said a hospital spokeswoman.

“Her efforts and the nurse to bring him back to life, the calmness and how she handled herself, it was amazing to watch,” said Davis.

LaFemina received a special citation this week from the Oxford Board of Selectmen for her lifesaving efforts. So did Emily Lufty, a surgical medical assistant, and Davis for assisting LaFemina.

A GoFundMe account is raising money to help pay Pontbriand’s medical bills. He remains in the hospital and his wife is missing work to be by his side, according to the account.

A Monday post on the Algonquin Baseball and Softball Facebook page said after emergency treatment, extensive testing, and hospital care, Pontbriand wanted people to know that he was stable and breathing on his own.

“He’s a terrific guy,” said Davis. "Something that happens like this, with so much negativity in the world, for two women to bring him back to life is such a feel-good story."

Meanwhile, while LaFemina missed the rest of her son’s game, she was back the next day to see the team win the Jimmy Fund District Five tournament, according to a Facebook post.

Contact Henry Schwan at henry.schwan@telegram.com. Follow him on X: @henrytelegram .

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: UMass Memorial doctor honored after performing CPR on ailing umpire at youth game in Oxford