Spanish Fork High School athletes save man's life after medical incident

SPANISH FORK – Two Spanish Fork High School athletes are being hailed as heroes for saving the life of a father of five who is a bishop of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

It happened on Saturday morning during a cross country meet in Spanish Fork. 49-year-old Farris Child was about to watch his son race when he suddenly collapsed after suffering a massive heart attack.

PJ Merrill, 16, and Traven Elquist, 17, were both preparing for their 5K run when they noticed the commotion.

“They start yelling, 'Hey, we need help. Get help! We need a paramedic!'” Merrill told KSL TV. He said when he came over, all the students were just standing there in shock, not knowing what to do.

“I see this guy lying on the ground gasping for air. I turn him over and say, 'Hey, I think he's had a cardiac arrest. Everyone make room.'”

Elquist also ran over and wanted to help as best he could. “It just worked. I thought, I want to go and help.”

He said no one called 911, so he called 911 while Merrill began CPR, which he had learned in a class last year.

“I just said one, two, three, four, five, six,” Merrill said, showing how he clasped his hands together and pressed them on Child's chest. At first there was no pulse, but then Child was suddenly heard gasping for air.

“I was so relieved. I was so relieved, I was afraid he was going to die,” Merrill said.

“I've been trained emotionally, mentally, physically and spiritually,” Elquist said. “This guy could die right now.”

Rory Eyring, the school's head athletic trainer, was the one who taught the kids CPR last school year. He ran over with a defibrillator as Merrill was performing CPR. He said the kids saved Child's life.

“Every second counts to know what to do,” he said. “Without a doubt. I'm sure if they had waited longer, there could have been a different outcome.”

“You are a miracle to us,” said an emotional Deeanna Child, Farris Child's wife, speaking to KSL TV from St. Mark's Hospital, where her husband remains in intensive care after undergoing quintuple bypass surgery.

“I cried. They are incredible. I don't think I would have had the strength to do this as a teenager,” she said. “He had died. His heart had stopped beating. It stopped beating and they brought him back.”

Deeanna Child said this was a real shock for the family. She said her husband is a very healthy 49-year-old who enjoys jogging and is constantly exercising.

She told KSL TV that community members have been very supportive and her prayers have been answered.

“His doctor says everything is going well and his nurses are very optimistic,” she said.