The research behind this is wild. A baby is born and doesn't breathe. The window to fix it is 60 seconds. Doctors call this window the Golden Minute. And the first rule on the protocol is don't rush, because rushing actively breaks the technique.
Roughly 1 in every 10 babies needs help breathing right after they're born. The American Heart Association and American Academy of Pediatrics worked out the exact sequence years ago, and it's the playbook used in hospitals around the world.
Step one is the simple part: dry the baby, keep them warm, tilt the head a little to open the airway, rub the back, flick the soles of the feet. About 10% of newborns just need that small nudge to start breathing on their own.
If 60 seconds go by and the baby still isn't breathing, or the heart is going slower than 100 beats a minute, you grab a bag and mask. The bag is a rubber bulb. You squeeze it, and air pushes through the mask into the baby's lungs. You can see this in the second clip. Around 5% of all newborns need it. If it's working, the baby's heart speeds up. About 30 seconds later, you check again. If the heart is still under 60 beats a minute, you start chest compressions. Only about 1 to 3 babies out of every 1,000 ever reach that stage.
The bag and mask has one weak point. It only works if the mask seals tight against the baby's face, with no gaps at the rim. If air escapes around the edges, none of it reaches the lungs. The whole effort is just for show. A 2014 study at Leiden University in the Netherlands had medical staff try the technique on a training dummy. Inexperienced people leaked 51% of the air on their first attempt. After two minutes of focused practice, that number dropped to 11%. The seal is the whole thing, and shaky hands wreck it.
The calm in that video is what lets the hands stay steady. A steady hand keeps the seal tight, while a shaky one breaks it. Cochrane is the body that writes the most authoritative medical reviews in this field. Their review on this calls getting the air in cleanly the single most important step in saving a non-breathing baby. A panicking person with a bad seal might as well not be in the room.
Training does the rest. The NIH cites a study from Zambia where they trained midwives and nurses in this exact protocol. Out of every 1,000 babies born, the number who died in their first week dropped from 11.5 to 6.8. About a 41% drop, just from people learning to follow the steps in the right order without freaking out.
Around 900,000 babies a year die from not starting to breathe at birth, per the WHO. Most of those deaths come down to two things: no trained person on hand, or someone trained who rushed. The slow walk in the video is the technique. Slow hands and a steady mask save more babies than any other thing on the checklist.
Man. Don’t know how to explain it other than shock. Words cannot express the pain of this letdown. The frustration is unfathomable. I’ve worked my whole life to get to this moment and this is how it ends? Makes no sense.
Now that I’ve gotten surgery, I wish I could count the number of times people will tell me I’m going to “come back stronger”. What a cliche lol, this shit sucks. My foot feels like dead weight fam. But what’s hurting most I think is my mind. Feel like I’m rambling, but I know this is something I’ll look back on when I’m through this, as something I’m proud I fought through. It feels good to let this shit out without y’all seeing the kid ugly cry.
At 25, I’ve already learned that God never gives us more than we can handle. I know I’ll come out on the other side of this a better man and a better player. And honestly, right now, torn Achilles and all, I don’t regret it. I’d do it again, and again after that, to fight for this city and my brothers. For the chance to do something special.
Indy, I’m sorry. If any fan base doesn’t deserve this, it’s y’all. But together we are going to fight like hell to get back to this very spot, and get over this hurdle. I don’t doubt for a second that y’all have my back, and I hope you guys know that I have yours. I think Kobe said it best when in this same situation. “There are far greater issues/challenges in the world then a torn achilles. Stop feeling sorry for yourself, find the silver lining and get to work with the same belief, same drive and same conviction as ever.” And that’s exactly right. I will do everything in my power to get back right.
My journey to get to where I am today wasn’t by happenstance, I’ve pushed myself every day to be great. And I will continue to do just that. The most important part of this all, is that I’m grateful. I’m grateful for every single experience that’s led me here. I’m grateful for all the love from the hoop world. I don’t “have to” go through this, I get to go through this. I’m grateful for the road that lies ahead. Watch how I come back from this. So, give me some time, I’ll dust myself off and get right back to being the best version of Tyrese Haliburton.
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Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight."