Monarch assistant coach Steve Devine and members of the Marysville football team, including Gabe Powers and Erryl Will, pray as medical professionals administer aid to a family member of one of the Marysville assistant coaches following Friday night’s overtime win against Hilliard Darby. The woman experienced a medical emergency during the on-field celebration following the game. (Journal-Tribune photo by Chad Williamson)
The importance and irrelevance of football were both displayed for all to see at Marysville Friday night.
In one instant, music soared from a Marysville scoreboard showing the Monarchs had pulled off a gritty 21-14 overtime win over Hilliard Darby as students, players and fans celebrated on the field near the south end zone.
The next moment the music faded and all on the field were asked to move toward the exits and locker rooms.
Behind them, medical personnel performed CPR on a family member of one of the Monarch assistant coaches.
Union County Coroner David Applegate, who is on the sidelines for MHS games, as well as members of the Memorial Health athletic training staff and doctors and nurses from the local medical community who were in the stands, worked to revive the woman for many minutes as an emergency squad was called to the field.
“To say thank you to them is not enough,” Marysville Superintendent Diane Mankins said of the medical professionals. “They acted heroically and swiftly.”
A squad is traditionally on hand at home games and had been at the field earlier in the night, but had left prior to the incident.
The first EMTs on the scene sprinted a defibrillator to the field as the athletes and crowd stood by silent, many of them praying.
Individuals close to the scene said the woman regained consciousness before being placed in an emergency squad and rushed to the hospital. School officials indicated the woman died later at the hospital.
Mankins expressed her appreciation for all of the professionals who worked tirelessly to administer aid. She also said the fans and students on the field responded respectfully to the situation.
“We are just once again reminded of the blessings we have in life,” Mankins said, nearly echoing sentiments she gave two weeks ago when a bus loaded with players was involved in a serious traffic crash.