[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 22 (Wednesday, February 7, 2024)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E122-E123]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            BLACK HISTORY MONTH 2024: HONORING MIKE GARLAND

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. ELISSA SLOTKIN

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 7, 2024

  Ms. SLOTKIN. Mr. Speaker, today I pay tribute to a basketball 
coaching legend who

[[Page E123]]

helped lead the Michigan State University Spartans men's basketball 
team to 19 NCAA tournaments, 10 Big Ten Championships, seven Final 
Fours, and a National Championship. But as impressive as those 
statistics are, former MSU Assistant Coach Mike Garland quite literally 
came back from the dead and is now using his second chance at life to 
pay this incredible gift forward.
  As much as Mike Garland loved coaching basketball, and as many great 
things as his teams accomplished on the court, he was content with his 
decision to retire from MSU in June of 2022, and looking forward to 
spending more time with his wife, children, and grandchildren. Not long 
after, however, he went into cardiac arrest while driving his car. 
Fortunately two good Samaritans were driving by at the time, saw 
Garland's car go off the road and into a tree, called 911, and 
performed CPR until paramedics and police arrived. In total, 13 people 
worked on Garland for an agonizing 18 minutes to restart his heart.
  It turned out the electrical failure in Garland's heart was the 
result of a birth defect, one that required open heart surgery to fix. 
Three months later, Garland was back up and running- quite literally- 
on the treadmill. Not long after that he honored all those who helped 
save his life with an emotional public thank you at MSU's Breslin 
Center, home to many of his great coaching moments.
  Today, the Breslin Center is also home court for his new passion: a 
foundation he launched called Champions of the Heart. Through this non-
profit, Garland works to inform the Spartan community and others on how 
to save lives during episodes of cardiac arrest.
  Attendees at these free trainings learn how to perform CPR, how to 
recognize sudden cardiac arrest, and how to use an Automatic External 
Defibrillator.
  Mike Garland is a man who has lived two lives, both defined by 
statistics. In the first, his focus was on wins, losses, and free throw 
percentages. His second life, however, is summed up in a single stark 
numerical reality: only one person in ten survives a cardiac arrest. He 
has done much to defy the odds and change the course of history for 
himself and others.

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