Locust Valley senior Francesco Allocca was finishing a drill at his varsity basketball tryouts when he collapsed into cardiac arrest. The coaches and school personnel immediately acted, performed CPR and utilized the AED machine.

He was taken to Northwell Hospital in Glen Cove and later transferred to Cohen Children's Medical Center.

Northwell honored his recovery on Wednesday and the heroic acts from the Locust Valley High School team. His mother, Pia Allocca, and Francesco also had the opportunity to thank Northwell and the school personnel for saving his life.

Francesco has been playing basketball since he was about 10 years old. He’s been shooting to play next level, but right now he’s focused on his road to recovery and running tests to prevent this from happening again or to others.