By By ERIKA PICKLES / Dowagiac Daily News
NILES – Buchanan's varsity tennis coach Cuppy Mace was airlifted to the University of Michigan Medical Center in Ann Arbor last week after suffering a heart attack at Buchanan Middle School.
Mace, a six-year head coach for the Bucks, was taken to Lakeland Hospital in Niles after some of Buchanan's teachers performed CPR on her shortly before the end of the school day Wednesday. After arriving at the hospital, Mace was airlifted to Ann Arbor, where she still remains.
"She should be getting a defibrillator any day now. They were going to put one in on Friday, but they want to make sure everything is put in place right," Buchanan boy's tennis coach Steve Bender said Tuesday morning. "It's a pretty basic procedure, so hopefully she will get it done in the next couple of days and will be home soon. It's really just a true blessing in disguise that those teachers were there to help her."
It was unknown by school officials why Mace suffered the heart attack, but prior health problems are believed to be part of the reason.
Bender spoke with Mace on Sunday and said she seems to be doing well. "She's more concerned about her tennis team than she is about herself," he said
Bender said Mace had the choice to have a defibrillator put in a few year's ago, but in order to do so she would have to stop coaching, which Bender said is something she didn't want to do at the time.
"It's a huge loss for the team. We are just trying to keep the girls moving forward," Buchanan's JV coach Heath Warmvein, who is filling in for Mace, said.
Warmvein said the team has two very big weeks coming up, with conference being held this Friday and regionals the following week, but with the help of Bender, he said things are going very smoothly, considering everything going on.