August/September 2021 - 23

In The Field
This day was Nov. 18, 2020, and assistant athletic
trainer Morgan Krout was at the finish line of a Pinecrest
High School cross country meet in Southern Pines, North
Carolina, when she noticed a young runner wobbling
toward the finish line.
" She didn't look right, " said Krout, who now works as a
physical therapy assistant in Fayetteville. " You have lots
of runners who look tired, but she didn't look right. "
Juliette Suh, a senior from nearby Jack Britt High
School, collapsed in the home stretch. At first, she
insisted she would finish the race, but as Suh lay on her
side, propped up on an elbow, her eyes began rolling back
in her head and she collapsed in Krout's arms.
" As soon as she collapsed we lost her pulse and she
quit breathing, " Krout said.
Sanchez, Pinecrest's head athletic trainer, was in the
trail cart when he got called to the finish line.
Krout had already begun sternal rubs and the two
began chest compressions. They were joined by the
school's wrestling coach, Bob Curtin. The trio continued
CPR for 15 minutes, including two rounds with the
portable AED, before EMS arrived.
" It felt like forever, " Krout said. " I think the worst part
about it is I got to the point I was so tired I couldn't
continue. I looked at my principal and I broke down. "
After three shocks from the EMS, Suh had a slight pulse
and was rushed away in an ambulance, nearly 30 minutes
after she'd first collapsed.
" She left the golf course and we had no idea if she was
going to make it or not, " Sanchez said. " For all we knew,
she was gone when she left the course. "
Pinecrest Principal Stephanie Philips tried to send Krout
home, but instead, she found herself drawn to volleyball
practice. She was too fearful of something happening to
another kid in her absence.
A few hours later she received an update that Suh was
alive, but little information beyond that. Finally, a couple
of days later, Krout's phone rang at 6 a.m. It was Philips.
" It scared me, to be honest, " Krout said. " When I
answered she said 'Hey, just so you know, she's going to
be OK.' I cried on the way to work that morning. "
Sanchez credits Suh's survival to teamwork on the scene.
" We had volunteer coaches, our principal, our athletic
director, assistant principal, and everyone did everything
they were supposed to do without a blink, " he said.
" There were no missteps. That could be one of the
reasons why we were able to save her life. " n
*A fuller version of this story, with accounts from
Andrew Neeld and Kathryn Crouthamel, will appear on
training-conditioning.com.
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August/September 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of August/September 2021
