On the second loop of his cross country race, high school runner, Seth Goldstein, voluntarily fell behind to save the life of a runner on a rival team.
“I was feeling good,” Goldstein, 17, a senior at Cooper Yeshiva High in Memphis, Tenn., told the Memphis Commercial Appeal. “That’s when everything happened in front of me.”
According to Goldstein, one of the runners from Germantown, Tenn., collapsed in front of him. He was the only runner who stopped to help the boy.
“His lips were turning blue and his eyes were rolled back in his head,” he told reporters. “I was terrified. But then I thought to myself, freaking out isn’t going to help any here.”
The teen immediately took action, calling his parents and telling them to call 911.
By that time, the collapsed runner had begun to regurgitate blood and the only thing Goldstein could do to help was roll him on his side so he wouldn’t asphyxiate.
As the student began to have seizures, Jessica Chandler, a mother from the fallen boy’s school, ran up to the boys.
“He was awesome,” Chandler said of Goldstein and his hospitality to the boy. “He was competent and kind. When the boy started to come out of it he just kept saying, ‘You’re going to be OK. We’re here. We’re with you. You’re going to be OK.”
EMT’s arrived shortly and took care of the injured runner. When it was stated that the runner was suffering from heat-induced seizures and was going to recover, Goldstein stood and asked if he could finish the race. It was then that Chandler and the EMT’s realized that Goldstein was another participant.
“The EMT’s 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.’”
Although Goldstein finished the race with his slowest time, he reached the final line and was greeted like a hero.
