VIDEO: The day the gym went quiet

It was already eerie playing basketball games in the COVID era, with not a single fan in the building.

But on Jan. 14 when Coach Doug Sperling grabbed for his chest during a home game against Camosun College, the shouts of 'call 911' gave way to an even more ominous silence.

It was an aortic dissection.

Doctors would later say his chances of surviving were about 50/50.

"I realized that I was in big trouble," recalled Sperling. "I probably yelled something at a referee and the next thing, I turned to Brent, the other assistant coach, and said 'I'm in trouble and I need help now' and everything basically ground to a halt."

"I went down, the game stopped, people are dialing 911," he recalled. "The ambulance is getting here and most of the stuff I don't remember from there on."

What he does remember, is everyone around him, doing their best to help.

"People went into action."

And Sperling's gratitude extends to the people at the hospital who sprang into action and literally saved his life.

"I'm unbelievably thankful for those people and the hospital," said Sperling.

"That whole night was a blur to me too," said Coach and program founder Dino Gini. "It was crazy emotional. I'm emotional talking about it right now," he said, fighting back some tears.

Sperling's wife, Bev, wasn't present at the game, so Gini called her to let her know what was going on.

"Trying to prepare Bev to what was going to be coming her way right, without freaking her out."

What he saw at KGH reminded him of one of those heroic moments you see on TV shows.

"They all came and put this team together in front of me, in front of our eyes," said Gini.

"A lot of things had to happen right for him to be sitting here."

Sperling also suffered a stroke in the aftermath of the aortic dissection.

All this happened, just as Coyotes coach and program founder Dino Gini was recovering after six months of radiation treatments for throat cancer.

They were very real events that underline a mantra that both coaches like to share with their players to make the most of these brief opportunities.

"Life is not forever. It's short. Like these kids coming here, take advantage of it. Just bust your ass and play hard," said Gini.

"Just keep reminding them, you only come this way once," added Sperling.

"It is the people that matter. At the end of the day, it's always about the people."

And through it all, the pair had to worry about the continued survival of, their program which exists as an entirely self-funded entity.

"Through all of this, we're still trying to fundraise," explained Gini.

The health scares have given the pair added motivation to get their project to the finish line.

They have had so much support from the community that they have been fundraising to help build a gymnasium facility if it ever comes to fruition.

Hopefully, between the college and the government and all of the people involved in this thing, there will be an announcement that says, 'yup, we're going to do it'."

And that is a fully-funded basketball program at Okanagan College and a home gym at the Kelowna Campus.

A fundraiser to help realize that goal is planned for Sept. 28, which you can buy tickets for here.