David Kennard and Gregory Hahn
The Idaho Statesman (Boise)
May 9--None of the adults at the Meridian Little League practice knew what to do Wednesday night when a 13-year-old boy collapsed rounding second base.
But 14-year-old Jessica Moncrieff did.
From the adjacent field, where she was scrimmaging with her club soccer team, Moncrieff could see people clapping their hands to wake the boy up. Some were screaming. But no one started CPR -- not until Moncrieff ran over and took charge.
And paramedics say Moncrieff may have made the difference in the young boy's life.
His parents have asked that the boy not be named. Although Thursday he was in critical condition at St. Luke's Meridian Medical Center, but emergency crews responding to the 911 call said the boy is lucky to be alive.
"It looks like they did an incredible job with bystander CPR," Mike Nugent, paramedic supervisor with Ada County, said Wednesday night. "People did all the right things. There are hopeful signs."
About 70 kids from Cole Valley Christian School filled the hospital's waiting area when they heard about their classmate.
The private school held a chapel service Thursday morning to give students the chance to offer prayers on the boy's behalf.
The school also made teachers and counselors available to talk with friends of the boy.
"He's very close to a lot of people here at school," said Kassie Jones, director of development at Cole Valley Christian.
Moncrieff learned how to react to emergencies at a Red Cross class for babysitters and had recently received a refresher course in her eighth-grade health class at Lewis and Clark Middle School. She was watching the boy on the ground and thinking she could help when her 17-year-old brother, Lucas, yelled at her and spurred her to action.
"He said 'Jessica, you know CPR,'" she said.
She gave some orders to the parents and coaches standing around, hesitated for a second before doing mouth to mouth on a real person for the first time, and then launched into the breaths and chest compressions she had trained to do.
"Once she saw what was going on she just jumped right in," said her father, Jim Moncrieff, who helps coach the soccer team.
"She took charge and started telling people what to do. She jumped in so fast I got on her a little because I wanted to make sure she knew what she was doing."
She agreed it was a little strange to have stepped up the way she did.
"I'm 14," she said. "People don't think I know anything."
Moncrieff performed CPR for 10 to 15 minutes, she estimated, continuing even after the paramedics came, as they prepared to bring the boy back to life.
She knew he wasn't breathing on his own, and she knew what that meant.
When they finally told her she could stop, the enormity of what had happened finally hit her.
"I turned away and I walked away slowly," she said. "I could feel the tears coming."
She cried for two hours, she said.
"Last night I couldn't sleep," she said. "I couldn't stop thinking about him, thinking 'I just hope he's OK.'"
It is not clear why the boy collapsed, but according to Jeff Dustin, Mountain View Little League president, the boy had been cleared by his family doctor to play.
Little League requires health waivers from all its players.
The hospital officials would not say why they think the boy's heart failed, but a spokesman said an early report from the school that the boy was in a coma was inaccurate.
"He is in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit in critical condition," said Ken Dey, spokesman for St. Luke's.
"I've been told that his condition is not likely to change in the next day or two, but to say he is in a coma is not exactly accurate."
David Kennard: 377-6436
