A suburban high school senior says she's lucky to be alive and is crediting an athletic trainer with saving her life after a scary situation at a homecoming dance.
The dance at Geneva High School Sept. 24 turned into a chaotic scene when Bridget Archbold collapsed on the dance floor.
"I heard 'help, help, help.' One of my other friends started screaming, the music stopped and that’s when it started getting blurry," said Archbold.
Archbold doesn't remember much but thinks she may have overheated. School officials confirm there were nearly 1,400 students in attendance.
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When the music suddenly stopped, chaperone and athletic trainer Nicole Collins knew something was wrong and sprung into action. She saw Archbold unconscious on the floor.
"It’s what I’m trained to do, so in the moment, my muscle memory kicked in, and I knew what to do," said Collins.
Collins says Archbold seized, so she rolled her on her side until convulsions stopped. Then, she administered CPR twice before paramedics arrived.
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"I have to first give a lot of credit to our students. They were all packed together dancing, and they alerted the DJ," said Principal Tom Rogers. "The DJ stopped the music immediately. Kids spread out and allowed us to attend to Bridget."
Although all school administrators, coaches and extracurricular supervisors are trained in CPR, Collins was prepared to step in and facilitate the emergency response quickly.
"We were very fortunate Nicole was on the spot and knew what to do and how to respond," said Rogers.
Doctors have ruled out a heart condition but are still running tests to figure out what sparked the seizure.
Archbold is still processing what happened but has already thanked Collins with flowers, a gift and a big hug.
"She did save my life. I feel forever grateful towards her. I can’t shake the feeling that I would have died if she wasn’t there," said Bridget.
Collins hopes the scary situation inspires everyone to get trained in CPR. She also hopes more students will now be aware she's on campus to help anyone in need.
"A lot of them see me taping ankles, providing water, giving a Band-Aid, but athletic trainers are trained to do emergency response and athletic trainers can save lives," she said.
