Antioch Student Hailed As Hero For Quick Action Following PE Injury
ANTIOCH (KPIX 5) -- An East Bay high school student is being called a hero for his quick thinking that may have saved another students's life.
Classroom lessons came to life in the high school gymnasium of Dozier-Libbey Medical High School in Antioch when senior Bryan Canty saw his principal running. He knew something bad had happened and jumped to help. Canty found freshman Ariah Royal lying on the ground and barely responsive after a head-to-head run-in during PE class.
Canty didn't miss a beat. "It was a traumatic event for the both of us," he said. "But it ultimately came down to training and me knowing what I had to do and taking control of the situation."
Canty stabilized Royal's head and neck and kept and kept her alert until paramedics got there. They knew it was serious right away, thanks to Canty's training and field tests.
"I could've died, 'cause I was not responding at all," said Royal. "I didn't have no feeling, like, I was paralyzed for a while. So, if he wasn't there it probably would have been a worse situation that it already is."
The 14-year-old Royal spent six days in the hospital, three of them in ICU. She's back to school now and feeling much better. Her doctors said that she has Canty and his training at Dozier-Libbey to thank for that.
"I'm glad that he was the first one to jump in," said teacher Kim O'Leary, "Because that's always something I teach my kids: You be the one that is the first person to help."
Canty has always been one to step up, but wasn't quite certain about the best way to make a career of helping others. Now, he says, he knows.
"I had some doubts about 'is this really where I want to go, really what I want to do,'" said Canty. "But then this event was, like, this is it. I don't want anything else in life but this."
Canty will go to college next year, hopefully play football, and work on a career in sports medicine, he said. Royal, when she graduates in four years, wants to join the Air Force.
