I missed some big news earlier this month about youth baseball U-10 All Stars winning the playoffs. More importantly, the mother of one of the players, a Southborough resident, is credited with saving a life during the tournament’s semi-finals.
Because the Little League game took place in Oxford, and she was honored by the Oxford Select Board, Dr. Jennifer LaFemina Fowler* was initially mislabeled in story tags by local media as an Oxford mom. In fact, she lives in Southborough.
Fowler was attending her son’s game when an accident almost ended in tragedy. It appears that she recognized a life threatening danger that others didn’t. NBC 10 explained:
The umpire, Korey Pontbriand, was struck in the throat with a ball during the second inning, according to a social media post from Algonquin Baseball and Softball. Beloved by local little leaguers, Pontbriand attempted to stay in the game despite obvious pain and concerning symptoms.
Between innings, officials said, LaFemina approached the umpire and urged him to step off the field to be treated. It was just in time — Pontbriand collapsed off the field, unresponsive and not breathing, as LaFemina went to work providing emergency medical services until first responders arrived on the scene.
LaFemina wasn’t alone — she had Emily Lutfy by her side to help as she does at the hospital.
Lutfy is LaFemina’s medical assistant, assisting her in surgery every Friday and attending every game played by the Algonquin All-stars 10U team. As LaFemina put it at Tuesday night’s ceremony, their established nonverbal communication and her presence there that night made “all the difference.”
The story also covered that:
LaFemina, her medical assistant and the president of Oxford Little League were honored with a lifesaving merit award for their “acts of compassion and grace under pressure,” as Oxford Board of Selectman Chairman Mike Lee put it during the board’s meeting on Tuesday.
You can read the full story here which includes details of the Select Board meeting. You can also find more details about the incident through Oxford and Northborough-Southborough Little Leagues’ Facebook posts here.
Updated (7/24/24 6:43 pm): I confused readers by referring to Dr. Jennifer Fowler and “LaFemina”. Her full name is Dr. Jennifer LaFemina Fowler. It appears that she goes by her maiden name.
