FSU Football student equipment managers praised for helping save golfer's life

With spring football practice starting this Wednesday, life is about to get extremely busy for FSU Football student equipment managers Tommy Provenzano, Ty Schmitt and Brandon Moore.

But the three good friends have already had an eventful month.

While golfing with friend and fellow FSU student Charlie Frantz at Hilaman Golf Course on March 1, the quartet was flagged down by a man walking his dog who had seen another golfer collapse on the next hole.

That golfer, Tallahassee resident Todd Watkins, was playing by himself when he suffered a heart attack.

“We rushed over to see Todd on the ground, unresponsive,” Provenzano told Warchant. “So we checked his pulse and didn’t feel one on his neck or either wrist. That’s when we started CPR.”

Provenzano, who is entering his third year as a student equipment manager with the FSU football team, actually got certified in CPR six years ago when he took a job as a lifeguard in high school. He thankfully never needed to apply those skills during his three years of lifeguard duty, but he was thrilled to possess them earlier this month.

“This was the first time,” Provenzano said.

While he went to work trying to help Watkins regain his pulse, Ty Schmitt called 911 and shared details that would help the paramedics when they arrived on the scene.

“When I first heard the dogwalker call out to us that Mr. Watkins was on the ground, I didn’t really know what to think,” said Schmitt, who is entering his second year as an FSU student manager. “It was the last thing I expected to hear. And when we drove up to him, I didn’t really think about anything at all other than trying to help. My role was to call 911 while CPR was being administered. … There really isn’t a way to prepare for something like that. I’m just glad we were there to help the best we could.”

It truly was a community effort.

Two other golfers soon rushed over to help as well, sharing CPR duties during the roughly 10 minutes it took first responders to arrive. Provenzano gave them much of the credit as well, although he only caught one of their names (Connor Middleton).

“They also did CPR until the cops arrived,” Provenzano said. “We flagged them down on a golf cart. Then they did what they needed, and thank God they did.”

Throughout the entire ordeal, the FSU student equipment managers couldn’t tell if Watkins had ever regained a pulse, and they weren’t sure if he would make it. But paramedics were able to shock his heart back into rhythm, according to the Tallahassee Democrat, and he was taken to Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare, where he was treated for a week before being released.

“We didn’t know he was alive until the next day,” Provenzano said, adding that family connections through church then brought them together with the Watkins family.

“They ended up letting us know that they wanted us to come and stop by [the hospital], and it was really nice to meet them,” Provenzano said. “The sweetest people, and just very grateful that we had been out there at that time. We’ve been in contact a little since then, trying to figure out when we’ll meet Todd. Overall, just great people who truly believe that God had a hand in this and that there were no coincidences that day.”

Watkins’ wife, Mary, told the Democrat that she was informed by doctors that her husband wouldn’t have survived if not for the help of the Good Samaritans on the course.

“Those four young men are my heroes,” she said. “They were Todd’s angels, and we truly believe it wasn’t just a coincidence that God places the right people there at the right time.” 

According to the family, the 61-year-old Watkins was in good health and never experienced any serious issues before the heart attack.

“I wouldn’t be here without them,” Todd Watkins told the Democrat.

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