An athletic trainer for Norton High School (Mass.) went above and beyond her job description this past weekend, saving a man’s life in the process.
Norton’s athletic trainer —26-year-old Kathryn “Kat” Sevigny— saved the official timekeeper after he suffered a heart attack following the varsity football team’s first win of the 2022 season on Saturday evening.
According to an account by CBS Boston, head coach Jim Artz noticed a commotion near the stands and saw that an elderly man had collapsed.
“A man, said to be in his 70s, had collapsed on the track surrounding the field. Artz said he made his way over to the man to see who it was, fearing it could be a relative of one of his players… The stands were packed Saturday night and many of them watched the horror unfold. But there was one person people knew to turn to. That was Norton High School’s Athletic Trainer, Kathryn “Kat” Sevigny.”
After hearing her name called, Sevigny ran over and found the victim had no pulse and was not breathing. First, she administered CPR but was unable to revive the victim. Then, in a last-ditch effort, she used her AED for the first time – Sevigny told CBS that something told her to check the batteries before the game even though she’d never used it before – the AED worked, and the man survived.
The victim’s family is not releasing his name but says he is recovering in the hospital and feels like himself.
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