Two high school track coaches are responsible for saving the life of a student-athlete who suffered a cardiac event during a recent practice.
Freshman Alyssa Atkinson was doing her normal warm-up during track practice early last month at Allen Park High School in Detroit when she suddenly collapsed.
According to WXYZ, Atkinson doesn't remember much after that.
"I just remember doing two warm-up laps and then doing our regular warm-up in lines, but that's all I remember from that day," Atkinson said.
Two Allen Park track coaches are now being called heroes after they quickly performed CPR and used an AED on Atkinson following her collapse.
"It got her heart rhythm back in place before the EMS arrived. Those critical seconds changed my life, my daughter's life, and it saved her life," said Kelly Dolan, Atkinson's mom.
Allen Park's athletic director Jame Victor said he prioritizes readiness for any medical emergency.
"To know that all the emergency action plans, all of the drills that our athletic trainer and I work with all the teams on, was put to use and executed the right way, and it helped potentially save a life, it means a lot," Victor said.
Jennifer Shea, Corewell Health Children's Student Heart Check manager, told WXYZ that in the United States, one student athlete dies every three days due to cardiac arrest.
"The more time that's wasted trying to figure out if there's an emergency or what that emergency is, the less likely someone is to survive," she said.
