A story of life, love, gratitude and God — How Utah State staff saved Josh Davis

Josh Davis appears in a press conference at Utah State University on Thursday, March 30, 2023.

LOGAN — Utah State interim athletic director Jerry Bovee was having what he called a “normal-ish” day. It was just after 4 p.m. on a Thursday, a typical workday on its way to a typical conclusion and another day closer to the weekend. With one text, however, his relatively normal, almost-over day became one Bovee will remember the rest of his life and among the longest nights he’d ever go through. Bovee’s phone buzzed and a message from another staff member in the athletic department appeared on screen.

You may want to come down here.”

Alongside the text was a picture, sent by the staffer who was sitting in the press box of Maverik Stadium at the time it was taken. It showed one of USU’s football players being attended to with life-saving equipment. Bovee immediately knew how dire the situation was and in a moment, he closed the door, said a prayer and then dashed out of his office, stunning his staff with the speed of his flight that belied his increasing age. He arrived minutes later and stood among a crowd of first responders he’d seen in the picture and got his first good look at the young man they were trying to save.

Down on the turf of Merlin Olsen Field, head coach Blake Anderson was ready for the start of his team’s third spring practice, the first with full pads. Roughly 100 athletes — more than he’s ever had in a spring camp — were warming up for the two hours of drills and the first chance to truly go full speed and finally do some proper hitting. Over on the west sideline, several of Utah State’s training staff, including head trainer Mike Williams and assistants Kendra Gilmore and Brady Mollner, were going about their usual tasks.

But right as practice was getting under way, a player standing mere feet from Gilmore collapsed. Wide receiver and redshirt freshman Josh Davis had just gone into a non-traumatic sudden cardiac arrest. Gilmore immediately leapt into action and Williams, only 10 or so steps away from Davis himself, joined his assistant as they administered CPR to Davis.

Remarkably, Williams had already been in this situation before. In 2012, he had been at a USU basketball practice when one of the players, Danny Berger, had collapsed in full cardiac arrest. Williams’ quick response had saved Berger’s life. That experience, and years of continued training, informed Williams as he worked to repeat his previous success.

One of the things that aided Williams in saving Berger was an Automated External Defibrillator, or AED. They’d been recently installed when Berger went down, but a decade later these devices are everywhere. Mollner was sent to get the one kept on the field, a mere 50 yards from where Davis lay. And so Mollner ran the most important 100 yards of his life to grab the machine that soon saved a young man’s life.

When Anderson noticed the commotion and saw it was Davis who had collapsed, he first thought of a similar incident a year ago. Last year, also during practice, Davis had collapsed, suffering what was termed a “seizure-type” episode (not technically classified as a seizure but it was similar to one). In that situation though, Davis had walked off the field under his own power. He got checked out by doctors, underwent extensive testing and no underlying issue was found. Anderson hoped this situation would be the same but as he joined the growing crowd around Davis, he could see that wasn’t the case. This time, Josh wasn’t going to get up on his own.

As the training staff and eventually EMTs continued to work on Davis, Anderson did just about the only thing he could do. He told Davis to keep fighting. Out loud. Yelled it even. With all the vigor of a longtime football coach, Anderson yelled at Davis. Not to finish a drill or run a play right this time. This time the instruction coach gave was to fight. Fight for your life.

Anderson wasn’t yelling for Davis to fight simply out of base instinct. He knew Davis could hear him. Years ago, Anderson’s father suffered a heart attack and was saved by first responders. His father had later said he could hear the EMT and everyone around him. He couldn’t respond, but he could hear.

“In the back of my mind I could just remember my dad telling me that story,” Anderson said. “(My dad) felt the presence of Christ and he felt the warmth of my mom and a good friend doing CPR on him and he could hear them speaking but he couldn’t respond. So I knew Josh couldn’t respond but I wasn’t gonna quit.”

After half an hour of trainers and EMTs providing emergency response treatment, Davis was loaded into an ambulance and transported to Logan Regional Hospital.

In Carlsbad, California, Chrissy and Matt Davis were benefitting from the balmy 62 degree weather along with their young daughter. As far as they knew, their oldest son, Josh, was running around the still-snowy field in Utah. But at 3:30 local time (4:30 Utah time), they were greeted by the news every parent dreads. As Josh was arriving at the hospital his parents were scrambling to find the next available flight to Utah. The one they did find wouldn’t put them in Utah until after midnight, but it was the best they could do.

At each stage of the Davis’ trip they remained in contact, through text and phone call, with USU leadership getting updates on their son. They were told Josh had been stabilized at Logan Regional and then transported to McKay-Dee Hospital in Ogden. There, Josh received further treatment including cooling his body to preserve neurological function.

In the early hours of Friday morning, Mr. and Mrs. Davis touched down in Utah. By around 1 a.m. they had arrived by the bedside of their son. They were met there by Anderson and Bovee. The two had refused to leave Davis’ bedside despite being told by hospital and training staff they were OK to leave and that they’d done what their respective roles required. But in their mind, their charges were not yet fulfilled.

Nobody wanted to leave because until mom and dad showed up, we felt the responsibility to be there for Josh,” Bovee said.

As the long night wore on, Josh improved. He even woke up, sitting up in his hospital bed and in a confused state began pulling off tubes and wires until hospital staff stopped him and sedated him. By noon on Friday, Davis was upgraded from critical condition to fair condition. The worst was over. Recovery was imminent and everyone could relax.

Utah State football player Josh Davis gives a thumbs up in his medical bed, surrounded by (left to right) Brittany Anderson, Matt Davis, Blake Anderson and Chrissy Davis. Photo courtesy of Utah State football.

On the third floor of the West Stadium Center, Josh Davis walked up to a podium. A week (almost to the hour) after lying on the field just barely visible from where he stood in front of cameras, reporters, friends and next to family, Davis spoke. He had a lot of thank-you’s to say, and he said them. A thank you to Blake Anderson. A thank you to the emergency room staff at Logan Regional Hospital and McKay-Dee Hospital. A thank you to God. As he spoke, he turned to his left where Williams, Gilmore and Mollner — the three perhaps most responsible for saving his life — sat at a table and told them “I can’t thank you guys enough and I’ll never forget what you guys did for me.”

Davis’ parents had just as many thank-you’s, and they also shared them. His mom walked up to the same podium right after her son spoke and began simply by saying “Thank God for this miracle.” The miracle, though, is not that Davis was magically revived as he lay on the turf, but that he unintentionally chose to collapse in maybe the best spot he could have aside from the doorstep of the emergency room.

“I think God stepped in in a big way. He could have had the seizure anywhere,” Anderson said. “He could have been off on his own without any medical personnel around. We could have had guys tied down in other areas. He was where he needed to be with the people he needed to be with for him to make it through this. Every doctor I talked to at the hospital said it’s a miracle. He’s not supposed to survive this.”

Aside from divine intervention, the simplest explanation to why Davis survived his ordeal came down to competent medical professionals who acted promptly, decisively and were well-trained for the situation.

“Our staff did an amazing job,” Anderson said. “Had anybody at any point, even though they’ve been trained and trained and trained, had they taken a little bit longer or not been decisive about what they were doing. He might not have made it. But we have a great staff and everyone did their jobs without any hesitation.”

Right now it’s unlikely Davis will play football at the collegiate level again. Although both episodes were not football related and a cause is still unknown, testing fate isn’t something anyone’s willing to do at the moment. Still, he will remain part of the team and part of the Aggie athletics family.

“No matter what happens in his football career, Josh is always going to be an Aggie,” Bovee said.

“Josh’s life is going to change moving forward. But he’s still going to be part of our family,” Anderson said. “If they tell him he’ll never run a pass route again or catch another ball, we’ll find something else for him to do.”

Whatever is held in store, Anderson believes the young Davis will succeed. The fight he showed in a battle against his own body is something Anderson said will carry over into whatever endeavors Davis ventures into.

“I know he’s going to be successful regardless,” Anderson said. “Same reason he got up off the turf and beat every deadline they gave us over the course of the weekend. Same reason he’s going to continue to be successful.”


To hear the full press conference, click here.

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