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Former Red Sox pitcher Bill Lee ‘wasn’t breathing’ after collapse, revived

Former major leaguer Bill Lee had stopped breathing after collapsing in the bullpen during an exhibition game, but paramedics and two shocks with a defibrillator helped resuscitate the 75-year-old pitcher, according to a witness at the scene.

“Without immediate intervention, I do not believe he’d be here today,” Town of Thunderbolt Administrator Bob Milie told The Associated Press on Saturday, a day after the cardiac episode during a game for the popular Savannah Bananas.

“He wasn’t breathing,” said Milie, who’s also a firefighter in the Georgia town a few miles from Savannah. “It was very, very dire.