Seconds That Mattered: How a Dorm Parent and Teammates Saved Basketball Player, Tristin Flowers', Life

TEMPLE TERRACE, FL. — Champions are often made on the court, but Malik Beauford’s greatest assist this season came in a dorm room when his teammate needed him the most.

For freshman basketball player Tristin Flowers, January 12, 2026, was no ordinary day.

“I was in my room just playing a game and [Tristin’s] roommate, Andrew, came down running saying there was something wrong with Tristin,” Beauford said. “And so we went up there to check on him, and he was passed out.”

Beauford immediately sprang into action to try and help his teammate, who was unconscious on the bathroom floor, only to soon figure out that Flowers, passed out on the ground, was blocking the door, leaving Beauford unable to reach him. Beauford called his dorm parent, Jorge Sanchez, for assistance.

“I tried squeezing in first—I couldn’t get in. I tried getting Malik to squeeze in, but he couldn’t get in either,” Sanchez said. “So, at that point, Tristin wasn’t making any noise—he wasn’t responding to any of our calls to him, so I just decided I was going to force myself in and hopefully not hurt him.”

After finally getting into the bathroom, Sanchez was unable to find a pulse.

“At that point, I start to lift him—dead weight… I finally get him in a position where we’re both kind of over the toilet, and Malik was able to open the door for me. Then I carried him out into the [common room],” Sanchez said.

With Beauford cradling his head, Sanchez laid Flowers down to check his pulse.

“He had no pulse, so at that point, I start CPR… I ask his roommate, Drew [Andrew], to call 911… I asked Malik to run and get the AED machine,” Sanchez said.

Beauford returned with the AED machine, and Sanchez got Flowers hooked up.

“It gives audible instruction,” Sanchez said. “It tells you to keep doing compressions, and then it tells you to step away as it analyzes his heart. And then it says, ‘No pulse detected, administer shock, stay clear.’ It shocks him… It tells you to start doing compressions again, so I started doing compressions.”

Sanchez describes that moment as feeling like “an eternity” before the EMTs showed up. At that point, Flowers had been shocked three times.

“The paramedics finally show up, and they asked me to continue doing compressions while they get all of their stuff arranged and set up,” Sanchez said. “Finally, I’m able to step away, and they picked up where I left off.”

Grabbing Flowers’ teammates to join him, Sanchez stepped out of the room into the hallway. A scene of anxiety and stress quickly transitioned into a quiet moment of prayer.

“I told the guys that he’s in the professionals’ hands,” Sanchez said. “[There’s] nothing we can do now but pray for him.”

Boswell dorm mom Julie Sanchez said she will never forget the silence in the hallway as his teammates anxiously awaited a glimpse of relief.

Suddenly, the silence was broken, and they heard Tristin’s voice on the other side of the door.

Tristin, now awake, was loaded onto a gurney and taken straight to the hospital.

“Once they got him into the ambulance, I loaded up and went to the hospital to catch up with him,” Sanchez said. “They have him reclined in the bed, and he goes, ‘Hey, Mr. Jorge,’ which was great to hear because he was upright, and he was talking.”

After a series of tests, Flowers was diagnosed with myocarditis, which is inflammation in the heart. Flowers described the moments leading up to the traumatic emergency.

“Everything felt normal. I was kind of sick, and I thought I was just going through a common cold,” Flowers said. “I remember getting up to go use the restroom, and that’s when I passed out.”

Following the incident, Flowers started on the road to recovery, which made his day-to-day life look a little different than before.

“The doctors implanted a loop recorder under my skin, which constantly tracks my heart rhythm and records anything abnormal. On top of that, I had to wear a portable defibrillator called a Life Vest for about three months. I had to wear it pretty much all the time, even when I slept. It was designed to automatically shock my heart if it stopped again, but also reassuring at the same time because I knew it could save my life if something happened. Because of all this, I had to take a lot of precautions. I couldn’t do intense physical activity, and I had to be careful about anything that could affect my heart. I also had to stay on top of my health, getting enough rest and staying hydrated throughout the day,” Flowers said.

With the drastic life changes, Flowers expressed his gratefulness for his team and their part in his recovery.

“My teammates were there for me in a big way. In that moment, people acted quickly and made sure I got help. Afterward, they checked in on me constantly, kept me in good spirits, and made sure I didn’t feel alone going through recovery. Even now, they continue to support me and motivate me every day,” Flowers said.

Beauford said the event changed the motivation of the team going forward.

“I feel like the team definitely had something else to play for because after that happened, we played our best basketball,” Beauford said.

Being a dorm parent comes with a huge deal of responsibility that Jorge Sanchez does not take lightly.

“[Julie and I] look at these boys like they’re ours—every one of them. I’m going to do absolutely whatever it takes to make sure that my kids are taken care of… There wasn’t anything that was going to stop me from getting to him. And then the guys—they were right there the entire time,” Sanchez said.

Flowers highlighted the new outlook he gained from this experience.

“I learned that this school and this team are more than just athletics—they’re a family,” Flowers said. “The support from my coaches, teammates, and staff showed me how much they truly care. Personally, I learned how strong I can be, both mentally and physically. It gave me a new perspective on life and made me appreciate every opportunity I have.”