Longtime teacher Mike Crockett was standing on the top of a slide – his normal lookout perch during recess duty -- when he saw, and heard, 11-year-old Keegan Hall fall from a piece of playground equipment.

“I was probably 25 yards away, and I heard a pretty significant thud,” said Mike, a Missoula teacher of 18 years.

It took Mike just a few seconds to realize that Keegan’s fall was serious. He climbed down the slide, hopped a small fence and rushed over to Keegan.

“The first thing that struck me -- that scared me -- was his labored breathing. It wasn’t normal,” Mike said. “And then it was that realization that now I actually have to do something.”

That’s when Mike’s training kicked in. Besides being a teacher, Mike also volunteers with the Missoula Search and Rescue team, where first aid and CPR are just a small part of the training expectations.

With Mike at his side, Keegan remained unresponsive and his breathing struggles continued so Mike began administering CPR. Somewhere along the way he also instructed Keegan’s twin sister Kenzie and her friends to go tell the office to call 9-1-1 and retrieve an AED.

Fortunately, before they had to use the AED to shock Keegan, he regained consciousness and began to breathe normally on this own again. The ambulance and paramedics arrived soon after, and Keegan made a full recovery.

“Ultimately all that matters is that he’s happy and healthy and his family gets to be with him,” Mike said.

In May, Montana Red Cross recognized Mike’s calm, quick actions under pressure by presenting him with a Lifesaving Award during a school assembly at St. Joseph’s Catholic School, the fourth such award the Red Cross has handed out in Montana in the past few years. Keegan’s mom KayCee nominated Mike for the award and Keegan helped present it.

“Our family is so grateful to Mike for his heroic response to this accident,” KayCee said. “His awareness, quick thinking and ability to utilize critical lifesaving skills made a huge impact on the outcome and Keegan’s recovery. As a family, we could not be more thankful for Mike, and we are so appreciative of the American Red Cross for recognizing him.”

Mike said he is humbled by the award and doesn’t think of himself as a hero.

“I struggle to accept that I saved a life,” Mike said. “I’m more comfortable saying that I did something. I could have panicked. I could have done nothing, and I think that’s a takeaway for why people should be trained. If you can intervene somehow and get advanced care on the way and get an AED onboard and do something, at its very basis, it’s important for people to know.”

“It’s like doing your fellow humans a favor even if you never end up using it.”

GET TRAINED

Red Cross offers a wide range of health and safety classes from CPR and first aid to swimming safety and babysitting training. Learn more and sign up for a class today at redcross.org/takeaclass.