Alan Thicke died at age 69 on Tuesday, December 13, after suffering a heart attack while playing hockey with his 19-year-old son, Carter — but onlookers say he was coherent and talking as EMTs were taking him to the hospital.
Darin Mathewson, vice president of Pickwick Gardens ice skating rink in Burbank, California, told Entertainment Tonight that he was the one who called 911 when Thicke, who was a regular at the facility, collapsed.
“I was in my office [and] probably in the first 15 to 20 minutes of the game, these guys came running in and said, ‘Hey, call 911. We got a guy down.’ So I called immediately and went out there,” Mathewson said. “In Burbank, the EMTs and the ambulance services are really fast, within a few minutes, and by the time I got out there, they were coming in.”
Mathewson told ET that the Growing Pains alum was vomiting at first, but that he was “coherent” and speaking to Carter when emergency responders arrived. “He had pain in his chest, but his color was not good. He was a little gray,” he recalled. “When the ambulance got here they checked his vitals … and they put him on the gurney, sat him up.”
Mathew says Thicke even asked his son to take a photo of him at the rink before he was taken to the hospital. “On his way out he asked his son to take a picture. He goes, ‘Ah, take a shot, kiddo,’ and he did and off they went,” he said. “He had Carter take a picture of him, and said, ‘Make sure you get the rink in the background,’ as they were taking him out of here. When he went by us, he gave us the thumbs-up, like, ‘I’m doing good, guys, I’m good.’”
Thicke was taken to Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center, where he passed away. His son Robin Thicke rushed to be by his side, a source tells Us Weekly. The actor is survived by wife Tanya and sons Robin, Carter and Brennan.
