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Will C. Wood High School varsity football player Josiah Chavez said he is still recovering after he got hit during a home game last week and blacked out.
KCRA 3 footage from the game shows that when Josiah jumped to catch the ball, he collided with a player from the opposite team. The player\u2019s foot hit Josiah\u2019s chest and Josiah fell to the ground on his back, hitting his head on the field. He briefly rolled around but then stopped moving.
\u201cI remember just going up for the ball and then getting hit and then everything going dark,\u201d Josiah said. \u201cThey said I was just going in and out of consciousness, and that\u2019s pretty much all I remember until waking up in the ambulance.\u201d
Josiah\u2019s family said someone called an ambulance to the school to take Josiah to the hospital. Josiah said doctors told him he had a mild concussion and that his heart had stopped. He said he is feeling much better now, and he will never take another day for granted.
\u201cI was almost gone, and looking at life now knowing that I got a second chance is basically making me look at life a little different,\u201d Josiah said.
Josiah\u2019s father Joe was on the sidelines during the game and said it was hard watching his son get hurt.
\u201cI wouldn\u2019t wish that on my worst enemy to have to see their child lifeless from the field like that,\u201d Joe said. \u201cI think our biggest issue was trying to figure out why his heart stopped.\u201d
The other question Joe had was why there was no ambulance at the game, to begin with.
\u201cI would think, especially how dangerous the sport is and can be, yes, I believe an ambulance should be onsite,\u201d Joe said.
KCRA 3 brought that concern to the California Interscholastic Federation, or CIF, the governing body for high school sports across the state. Will DeBoard, the CIF San Joaquin Section assistant commissioner, said the rules do not mandate ambulances at high school sporting events in California.
\u201cIt\u2019s not required to have an ambulance,\u201d DeBoard said. \u201cOur current rule regarding medical personnel \u2014 this is a CIF rule \u2014 is that the home team shall endeavor to have a doctor at the game.\u201d
However, DeBoard said several school districts do provide ambulances at home games, but to make that a state-wide requirement is out of CIF\u2019s hands.
\u201cThat\u2019s really up to our schools. If our schools want that rule, they can definitely propose it,” DeBoard said.
Josiah said he is still waiting for medical tests to come back. He is also not allowed to do any physical activity, including getting back on the football field, until his heart gets checked out.
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