Firstly, thanks for continuing to maintain the forums central to the running community. Despite the arguments and drama of the forums (especially negative remarks directed towards your website), I’ve found LetsRun to be awesome for what it is.
I witnessed the entire Kemoy Campbell situation transpire and I have been following the threads intently the last 16 hours. I figured I’d give you my own telling of the story, which as noted by many on forums, contains emotions and memory bias — I still think it can be useful. I also have some other points I’d like to make and/or clarify about what people are saying. But first, what I saw from standing on the second floor corner spot (exactly where he went down but elevated a level):
Kemoy paced through the 1000m in about 2:34 from what I saw, slowly somewhat after a pretty quick opening 400m. I was interested to see him pacing prior to the race, so I checked and saw he had run an 8:04 at the Columbia Challenge, so obviously he wasn’t off to a great start for the season, maybe he was coming back from an injury or something and still racing. But anyway, right after this 1000m split he was just getting 25m around the turn and slowed down gradually like he was pulling off his pacing duties, except he was still on the track. Pat Tiernan ran into him from behind and looked really confused but continued on his way.
At this point Kemoy is grabbing up by his throat (or chest, maybe, I’m sure the videos show it) and he takes one step into lane 0, and then falls down off the elevated track surface to the floor. A man in a suit came running over to check on him and begins to panic. From what I saw, Kemoy was shaking moderately, not violently but also not in a subtle manner. I don’t know, is a seizure normal with cardiac arrest because that is what I would have guessed. Now, clearly this suited man doesn’t know CPR and he’s asking for help, just yelling and looking around and no one is moving. The race is continuing to run around and I think most people that were not in the immediate area had any clue what was going on and probably weren’t paying attention — this includes meet officials/directors.
The suited man had no radio, and his other suited friend (who came over a few seconds later) didn’t either. The first suited man stays with Kemoy, and the second runs all the way across the track to the opposite corner to get help, where the trainers normally are posted. This struck me as odd. Vastly inefficient to send someone running across, only to come back a minute or two later with a woman who did not have an AED or anything in her hands. In the stands, we are absolutely panicking. I’m personally feeling sick, like I’m having a mini panic attack and I run back behind the stands and come in contact with a woman yelling at a vender (hired by the armory, wearing armory-labeled clothing) to get some help because “a man is not breathing on the track!!!” And this vender is unable to understand what she is saying, but he has a radio and is trying to repeat it into what I presume is the armory channel of communication — amazing that at this point, no volunteers or workers have heard anything about the events taking place on the track and its probably been three minutes.
I turn around and go back because as much as I don’t want to watch I can’t help myself. Now I see a few more people around Kemoy, and larger woman wearing a white shirt (she appeared to be a spectator) starts performing CPR. Now the crowd is making noise, lots of “oh my god!!” and plenty of screams. Now is when people jump over the fences and run across the track to help. A few minutes later and paramedics arrive with equipment. At around the same time the race finishes, and in my biased memory no one was really cheering or paying attention to the race, as amazing as it ended up being. Nobody in our area even cared, we were all in complete shock. After about 15 minutes they moved Kemoy and everyone out off the track.
A few other events happened which have already been mentioned, like them almost starting the shot put again or the 400m race or the girls high school mile, and here’s what I have to say about what I witnessed and what people are saying:
(1) I am on the side of “it took too long to get help.” One interesting thing to note is that as people witnessing a man die, or nearly die, it felt like it was hours that he was on the ground before he got help — psychologically, time slows way the hell down when a traumatic situation is happening. So that’s definitely an explanation for why people are saying it took so long. THAT SAID, it was clear the armory was in disarray. I had noted from when I first got inside the building that the meet was being run relatively poorly. And I think that helps account for the fact that there were clearly not enough people there on the Armory’s behalf to keep things organized. I’m considering volunteering next year (if that’s an option) to help things run more smoothly.
(2) As for the announcer and his remarks, “Let’s give him an applause as he leaves the building” — give the man a break. What else is he supposed to say? The place was silent and terrified, the meet’s events were being changed around and no one really knew what was supposed to happen. Should we cheer for the man when the put him on a stretcher? Is that wrong? Is that right? Announcer offered people a chance to express (1) their appreciation of the responders for saving a man’s life and (2) an acknowledgment that we were behind Kemoy 100%. I don’t know, that’s how I saw it in the moment.
(3) As for the meet directors/officials and not halting the race… like I mentioned earlier, it seemed like no one really knew what was going on. For all they knew, Kemoy just passed out from dehydration. Because of zero communication and organization at the meet, it’s hard to see how in such a chaotic moment with extreme confusion that the race would just be ended. If Kemoy fell right on the track, I guarantee that the race would have been ended, as it would have been WAY more obvious what was happening.
All in all, I think it’s important to recognize the efforts of spectators and the paramedics and EMTs that helped and probably saved Kemoy’s life. The blame should mostly be on the Armory and the organizers of the Millrose games. It was a disorganized event, plain and simple. Maybe that’s the nature of a track meet? I don’t know. Additionally, it seems to me that an AED or defibrillator was NOT around. I remember in high school that these were things (at least the AED) always present. And you have to think, at ANY athletic event there should be multiple people capable of saving a life. It was pretty evident that the Armory/Millrose Games organizers (I really don’t know how a meet is organized and who is responsible for paramedics or capable responders) are the ones at fault.
Really sad all around. I really hope Kemoy ends up all right. These kinds of experiences alter the way you look at the sport, how you internalize your own hardships and challenges, and last of all, reminds me that the people who compete and spectate track are among the best.
If you have any other questions feel free to ask. I really apologize for these huge blocks of text, I went for a full stream of conscious.