WENTZVILLE, Mo. – When a student athlete collapsed at a Wentzville School District track championship over the weekend, it was the quick response from district staffers that saved the student’s life.
Two employees from a physical therapy company, and several others with medical and CPR training, just happened to be here at the meet at Timberland High School when an emergency happened.
“It’s your worst fear as an athletic director, what happened here Saturday,” said Todd Hayes, athletic director at Timberland High School.
When a student athlete from another district collapsed, two trainers from Axes Physical Therapy immediately went to help.
“Saw one runner go down, and so, as the other runners passed, we ran out there and assessed the situation,” said Ross Seitter, Axes Physical Therapy.
Seiter said the student collapsed right where their tent was set up.
“It was a pretty big meet. … I think we estimated around 800 athletes total,” he said.
There was also a parent who was a nurse with the school district, a bystander who was also a nurse, and another nurse who were attending the event.
They all assessed the student and began CPR to resuscitate the student.
Seitter said they’ve done countless rehearsals to know what to look for and what to do in an emergency situation.
“At that moment when it happened, you just kind of react. You don’t really have time to focus on your emotions especially, you kind of set those aside. You address those later,” he said. “But yes, throughout school, throughout post-grad, and everything like that, we’re just trained to react.”
Hayes said the student who collapsed is on the mend and getting better.
“We have an outstanding training staff with Axes PT, and Kyle does a great job, and we’re just very fortunate also that we had some volunteers,” he said.
