14-Year-Old High School Runner ‘Saved’ by Coaches After Suffering Cardiac Arrest at Track Practice

A 14-year-old high school track star was “saved” by her coaches after suffering cardiac arrest during practice earlier this month.

Alyssa Atkinson had just arrived for track practice at Allen Park High School in Allen Park, Mich. on Wednesday, March 12 and started off with two warm-up laps. She has no memory of what happened next, NBC affiliate WDIV reported. 

Atkinson, a competitive track athlete and cheerleader, had gone into cardiac arrest, and quick action by two track coaches helped ensure she survived.

Now, the freshman and her mother are expressing their gratitude for the coaches.

“The doctors didn’t mince words when they said those coaches saved her life,” Atkinson’s mom, Kelly Dolan, told WDIV in an on-air interview with her daughter that was broadcast on Monday, March 31. 

The team was conducting time trials when Atkinson “collapsed,” the school’s athletic director James Victor tells PEOPLE.

“Alyssa ran her time trial and as she finished, she walked off the track and collapsed near the finish line,” he says. Victor explained that Atkinson “was not very responsive” when the two coaches rushed to her side. “It appeared like she was having a seizure and taking deep breaths,” Victor says. 

The head coach immediately ran to get an AED and call 911, while the assistant coach began administering CPR. After using the AED, which shocked her, the coach continued to conduct CPR, the athletic director says.

The AED was able to restore Atkinson’s heartbeat before emergency responders arrived on the scene, according to WDIV.

Atkinson was then rushed to the hospital, where her mother met her. 

When the student woke up, her family was by her side, according to the outlet.

“I was, like, very grateful to be even awake at the moment, but it was scary to know that happened to me,” Atkinson told ABC affiliate WXYZ about learning she’d experienced cardiac arrest.

There were no signs that anything was wrong before the teen collapsed.

“She does her sports physical every year for sports activities in high school and middle school,” her mom told the outlet. “So, this was sprung upon us and we had no idea.”

Weeks after the scary incident, Atkinson is back in school. 

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“We’re just so excited to have her back,” says Victor, who describes the coaches who saved her as “phenomenal people.” He says that employees of the athletic department have trained for such moments and conducted drills with students. 

“Everybody, top to bottom, did everything that they were supposed to do in that hectic and crazy moment,” he says of the medical incident. “You can never truly be prepared for it, but Alyssa and everyone was very lucky to have them in that position.” 

For Atkinson and her family, they couldn’t be more grateful for the coaching staff. 

“How do you thank a person who saved your daughter’s life?” Dolan told WXYZ.