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Cavalier |
BY TAFT COGHILL JR.
Meredith Cavalier considered remaining in Charlottesville this summer.
Instead, the rising University of Virginia sophomore swimmer honored her commitment to coach in the Rappahannock Swim League.
One 10 year-old boy in Stafford County is certainly grateful.
Shane Egan, a member of the Aquia Harbour RSL team, began cramping while swimming Wednesday morning.
He nearly drowned before Cavalier, a certified lifeguard and Aquia Harbour assistant coach, rushed from one end of the pool to the other to save him.
"That was the fastest I've swam in a long time," said Cavalier, who was The Free Lance-Star's swimmer of the year three times at Brooke Point High School. "But everything just came naturally."
Cavalier, assistant Michael Fox-Moles and parent Julie Allen jointly pulled Shane out of the water while head coach Cessi Kaim ordered the other swimmers out of the pool.
Shane's mother, Irene Egan, praised the group's teamwork.
"It was a well-orchestrated save," Irene Egan said. "I couldn't ask for better representatives to be there for my son."
Shane started breathing shortly after he was removed from the pool, but his mother said he remained unconscious for 10 minutes.
Paramedics transported him to Stafford Hospital Center.
Shane was resting comfortably at home yesterday.
"I'd like to thank Meredith Cavalier for saving my life," he said in a telephone interview. "That was the most awful thing that's ever happened to me."
Irene Egan said Shane began cramping on Tuesday at youth football practice. He was dehydrated, and his arm muscles were restricted.
"The coach worked it out and got him hydrated," Irene Egan said.
But the problems surfaced again on Wednesday when Shane was practicing the individual medley. During the backstroke portion of the event, he pushed off the wall and his body began to cramp.
"The kids saw him hugging himself under the water, starting to shake and trying to yell for help," Cavalier said. "When I saw he was at the bottom of the pool and not coming up, I immediately dove in."
When Irene Egan learned the news, she feared the worst.
She and her husband were at work in Washington when they received the call that Shane had to be taken to the hospital. She said the drive to Stafford was "horrible" and the "worst 30 minutes" of her life.
Traffic was at a standstill, and HOV lanes weren't open. Shane's father drove down the shoulders of the highway.
"We broke every traffic law in the book," Irene Egan said.
When they arrived in Stafford, Shane was combative and disoriented.
Irene Egan said he was speaking "gibberish" as if he had suffered a stroke.
She said she feared her son had brain damage, but doctors told her it was normal behavior for someone who recently returned to consciousness.
Shane was later transported from Stafford Hospital Center to Inova Fairfax Hospital, where he spent Wednesday night for tests and observation. He was released yesterday afternoon.
Irene Egan said Shane is now back to normal, and he plans to resume swimming as soon as possible.
"He fully intends on being in the [RSL] finals at Curtis Park next Saturday," Irene Egan said. "And he intends to win."
Taft Coghill Jr.: 540/374-5526
Email: tcoghill@freelancestar.com
