MARSHALL, Texas (KETK) – A Marshall ISD football player is alive after he collapsed during a game earlier this week. If not for the quick thinking of the athletic trainer, things might have turned out differently.

Being prepared is vital for everyone on and off the field, a lesson learned in East Texas.

You prepare for it, but don’t think it will ever happen. That’s what one woman is saying after an emergency on the field. Now, she’s hoping her hours of training will continue to help her players.

Tuesday night football, a normal game for Marshall ISD junior high, turned scary for one player.

“We were out here playing Hallsville and just kind of out of no where, we noticed a kid go down,” remembers Jake Griedl, Marshall ISD Athletic Director.

Mid-play, an athlete went into cardiac arrest, leaving him with no pulse and not breathing.

“There’s a way that when a kid goes down, you know it’s kind of serious pretty quickly and this was one of the situations,” says Griedl.

That’s when athletic trainer Anste Woods sprung into action.

“I just went out and reacted like I always do, check on the kid. Let the coaches know he was breathing rather quickly, and so I just went out and tried to calm him down and regulate his breathing and get him back up,” explains Woods.

Performing CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation), Woods was able to save his life just as the EMTs arrived.

“When I think back on it I don’t even think I had a chance to react, I think I just immediately went into my training,” remembers Woods.

Athletic trainers are usually the first ones on the field and the last to leave, making their job vital to ensuring every player is able to walk away from the field.

Woods has been a trainer at Marshall for only 4 months, but says it’s because of her training that she’s ready for anything.

“You train, you teach, you know you have the knowledge and you hope you never have to use it, but it’s satisfying to know that in that time of need that you’re able to do your job,” says Woods.

With no signs of any heart condition in the player, knowing the risks of a sport is half the battle. Sometimes, it’s the dangers they don’t see coming that hit the hardest.

The school is not releasing the name of the athlete at this time, but does say he is back home in good spirits with his family.