They don’t make the big catch or pass on the field. Nor do they make a gutsy fourth-down call with a minute left to play. They don’t get the recognition in the paper or the praise at the end of the day. However, they play one of the most influential roles on a football field at any given time.
    Athletic trainers across the country are called on daily to perform a difficult task. In recent weeks, serious injuries to high school and college athletes alike have amplified the need for athletic trainers at every institution.
    Before the start of the football regular season, two local trainers not only showed why athletic trainers are so valued by teams and players, but more importantly, saved a young man’s life in the process.
    In a scrimmage game against Statesboro High School and Southeast Bulloch, a Blue Devils’ wide receiver caught a pass over the middle and took a hard shot to the chest and head area. The player got up, took a couple of steps and then collapsed to the ground.
    Von Miller, a 1999 graduate of Georgia Southern University, was on the scene and working as a trainer for Southeast Bulloch that day. Miller said the player suffered from commotio cordis, an often lethal disruption of heart rhythm that occurs as a result of a blow to the area directly over the heart
    “When I first saw it I thought, ‘did that really happen?’ He took a hit and then fell face forward,” Miller said. “We stabilized his spine and log rolled him over. We got him on his back. He was completely blue from the neck up.”
    Rachel Leitz, an athletic trainer at SHS, was also on the scene. She attached an automated external defibrillator to the player’s chest and later began CPR.
    Leitz and Miller, both employees of Optim Sports Medicine, saved the player’s life. Generally commotio cordis injuries have a mortality rate of 65 percent.
    Coincedently, Leitz and Miller practiced new techniques on spine stabilization just two days prior to the accident. 
    “I wanted to get in this job because I wanted to help people. I love helping people,” said Miller, a former athlete who competed for a state title in football in 1994. “I love seeing someone recover from an injury and know that I had a part in helping someone out.”
    Leitz, a former competitive cheerleader, said there can be a lot of misconceptions when it comes the the profession of athletic trainers. Leitz said she, and athletic trainers like her, don’t want to be known as “glorified ankle tapers.”
    “We do a little bit of everything. It’s a common misconception. We do way more than what people see on the sidelines,” Leitz said. “We do about five or six different careers. We do injury treatments and injury prevention as well as injury evaluation. We also do strength and conditioning.”
A typical day for Leitz begins with plenty of paperwork. As the head athletic trainer for SHS, she helps document all sports-related injuries. This year the injury bug has beaten the Blue Devils, keeping Leitz and her staff busy.
    Head coach Steve Pennington said the work the athletic trainers do on a daily basis doesn’t go unnoticed.
    “We appreciate what they do and the work they put in,” Pennington said. “Before each school didn’t have an athletic trainer. That would be the job of the coaches on staff. It’s hard enough just to coach.”
    Pennington touched on a subject Leitz hopes to change one day. Leitz said she wants to work on making it a law to have an athletic trainer at every high school.
    “At the high school level, we’re trying to make it a law that every school has an athletic trainer. The scrimmage game is a perfect example. If we hadn’t of been there, he would not have made it. The doctors told us he would not have made it if we didn’t act so quickly,” Leitz said. “We’re not glorified water girls.”

    Horace Holloman may be reached at (912) 489-9408.