PEABODY, MASS. (WHDH) - A Peabody High School athlete was recognized Tuesday for her quick thinking when a teammate suffered a seizure.
The library filled with applause as 17-year-old Trinity Cabrera was honored for her heroic efforts.
“We were at a track meet, so everybody started running, I knew something was not right,” she said. “I looked over and saw him seizing, that’s when I immediately grabbed my phone.”
Trinity said she began timing the seizure — one of many things she learned to do in her career and technical education nursing course.
“We just learned it, we just learned it. It clicked,” she said. “So, I moved him on his side, I let the seizure happen, I timed it, I supported his head.”
Her track coach, Marcus Viera, saw it all happen. He was one of the first people to come to the student’s aid but ended up letting Cabrera take over.
“You could see there was just no fear, she was just so composed that you had to trust in what she was doing,” he said. “It turned out to be the right move.”
The next step was just waiting for EMTs to arrive, and by the time they did, the student had regained consciousness and is now said to be doing OK.
Trinity said she is just happy that she was at the right place, at the right time, with the right knowledge to lend a helping hand.
“It feels really good actually just to know that I can help,” she said. “I can help when no one knows what to do.”
Trinity said her mom, who is a nurse, is her role model. Though she does not want to go to school for nursing, she does want to work in the medical field some day.
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