High school runner stops mid-race to save opponent
pack with plenty of race
remaining when a runner ahead of him dropped to the ground. Had the boy merely
tripped over his shoelaces, Goldstein may have taken it as a lucky break and
continued past the runner from rival school in Germantown, Tenn. But his
opponent needed help.
“His lips were turning blue
and his eyes were rolled back in his head,” Goldstein told the Memphis Commercial Appeal. “I was terrified. But then I thought to myself, freaking
out isn’t going to help any here.”
Goldstein
is a lifeguard. He was the only runner to stop after his opponent had fallen,
noting that it was “obvious” he needed help. When he realized the Germantown
student had blood bubbling from his mouth, he yelled for a parent to call 911.
“He had bitten his tongue and was bleeding
pretty bad,” Goldstein explained. “I feared he was going to choke on his blood.
I rolled him on his side so he wouldn’t asphyxiate.”
At that point Jessica Chandler, the mother of
another Germantown runner, ran over to help. She saw the victim’s body seizing
and didn’t know what to do. Fortunately for everyone involved, Goldstein had
the situation under control.
“Honestly, I was in shock,” Chandler said.
“But this guy was taking complete control. He was like, ‘You — call 911. You —
go get some ice.’ He turned him on his side. I thought he was a parent or an
EMT.”
Goldstein then proceeded to tell everyone the
seizing was normal and that he had seen it before. He was lying. He had never
seen it, but it helped alleviate the stress of the situation. As it turned out,
the fallen runner had suffered a seizure because of the heat and would later
recover. Upon realizing the EMTs had arrived and could handle it from there,
Goldstein asked if he could finish the race. It wasn’t until then that Chandler
realized he was just another student runner.
“The EMTs looked at me kind of funny,”
Goldstein said. “They’re like, ‘You’re racing? Well, sure, go ahead. I guess
you can finish the race.’ Everyone was clapping for me, like I was the
chunky kid who couldn’t finish. They were all cheering and saying, ‘You can do
it!’ I’m thinking, ‘C’mon, man!’”
In an era where children at all levels of
competition are encouraged to win at all costs and
face unnecessary pressure from their parents, Goldstein showed us
that selflessness does exist — even in competition. If it were completely
extinct, a high school student may have lost his life.
Thanks for reading guy!
Today's Story found by
-A.Harper
Love,
-N.Roachford ♥
