Joe Gaskin is already bouncing back.
The Long Island high school basketball referee, who went into cardiac arrest while calling a Nassau County Class A final between Floral Park and West Hempstead, is proud to say he will be back on the court for his 38th season next year.
“When my doctor said, ‘Do you have any questions?’ one of the first things I said was, ‘Will I be able to ref again next year?’ ” Gaskin told The Post from his hospital room.
“He said, ‘I don’t see any reason why not.’ ”
Gaskin, a longtime beloved member of the basketball community who followed in the footsteps of his father, isn’t unaware of the full-court press that kept him alive Saturday.
Nurses Tiffany Vargas, Monica Lally and Darlene Sica, along with a doctor, all rushed from the stands to administer CPR while his close friend, Wantagh athletic director Jennifer Keane, quickly prepped an automated external defibrillator (AED) that was used to resuscitate the Franklin Square man.
The ref, who will be coming home in the next few days, has emotionally thanked those who saved him and is planning to advocate for keeping AED devices at sporting events.
“I had angels in the stands that day.”
Verdict’s in: She’s a winner
She can finally catch her breath.
Zariel Macchia, the Long Island track standout and Olympic hopeful, is elated to put a dramatic, courtroom-filled end to her winter season in the rearview after becoming a state champion.
Days before the Staten Island meet last weekend, she had to speak in court after her family sued NYSPHSAA to let her compete after being banned for the technicality of racing with college athletes representing their schools.
She dashed a 3,000-meter event with a winning time of 9:21.73 and ran the anchor leg of Suffolk’s intersectional relay, leading her William Floyd squad to a win in 10:02.06.
“I’m proud to say I stayed true to my values and didn’t get too caught up in trying to destroy everybody just because I had to go to court,” Macchia told The Post of her ordeal ahead of competing in Nationals at the Armory this weekend.
Worth the wait
Stella Walshinsky is a real super senior.
The lifelong Port Washington resident is over the moon to have witnessed the boys basketball team break its 78-year Nassau title drought. She was, after all, a student during the school’s previous two championships in 1946 and 1947.
“I went to all the games … you know, it’s a small town. So every time there was a game, it was just filled to the brim because everybody went,” Walshinsky, who has been getting live updates from family on this year’s playoffs, told The Post.
Now, as Port Wash readies to face Half Hollow Hills East for the LI title Sunday, Walshinsky is ready to root on the Vikings for their biggest game in a lifetime.
“Just the fact that they’re there is a wonderful thing,” she said, “but it would mean the world to me if they won.”