Seventeen-year-old Grant Lichfield of Spokane, Washington, looked down at his track coach’s bloodied face, administering chest compressions to keep him alive long enough for paramedics to arrive.
Just five days earlier, Lichfield had sat in a stake youth activity learning how to give CPR.
A youth activity to save lives
On Wednesday, March 14, 2024, youth of the Spokane Washington Stake of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints gathered for a first-aid training activity.
“They planned this rotation thing, where you learn how to stop bleeding, how to do the Heimlich [maneuver] and how to do basic CPR,” recalled Lichfield, adding, “Somebody brought a CPR dummy, so we got to practice.”
Said Bishop Rob Lichfield, Grant Lichfield’s father and bishop of the Manito Ward: “These kids probably just felt like it was another activity, ... a review of safety stuff that they probably think they aren’t going to use — much less that week."
A track practice to never forget
Five days later, Grant Lichfield went to track practice for Lewis and Clark High School at a local park in Spokane. He said it felt like any other day.
He explained that their coach, Mike Hadway, had just finished a pep talk and sent them to do a “hill-repeat workout.”
Lichfield said his coach seemed fine until the second-to-last rotation of the exercise, when the teen — on his way back — noticed a teammate leaning over Hadway, trying to shake him awake.
“So he fell on his face, and we rushed down,” Lichfield said. “We roll him over, and his nose is bleeding everywhere because I think he broke it.”
Hadway was in cardiac arrest.
Lichfield continued: “We’re checking his pulse, and he’s not responding.”
While one teammate called 911, the others, about 20 in total, then looked to Grant Lichfield and Brody Graham.
Graham, a lifeguard, was trained to do CPR. But Lichfield’s teammates didn’t know that he also knew CPR; they merely assumed he knew because his dad is a doctor.
In an interview with the Church News, Grant Lichfield laughed, saying, “It’s not like a generational-knowledge-type situation.”
Graham jumped in first, administering compressions until the 911 operator asked to talk to him to ensure the compressions were being done correctly. Graham stopped so he could take the phone; Lichfield knew somebody needed to continue, so he jumped in.
Said Bishop Lichfield of his son: “I think that he was probably like, ‘Well, there’s nobody else here that‘s going to help.’”
As Grant Lichfield administered CPR, his teammates started singing “Stayin’ Alive” by the Bee Gees, a song the American Heart Association recommends for CPR. Its tempo aligns with the 100-120 beats per minute recommended for chest compressions.
He then felt bones break — Hadway’s sternum and some ribs were broken during the compressions — a sign of effective CPR.
“Honestly, it was like adrenaline fueled, and it felt like it went really fast,” he said. “We had — from when we called 911 and the paramedics got there — like five minutes.”
Bishop Lichfield, after speaking with his son and his teammates the next day, added: “He seemed awfully nonchalant — like ice-water-in-the-veins kind of thing. He just seemed like he was really able to show up for that moment.”
When the ambulance arrived, paramedics used a defibrillator to get Hadway responsive again. The athletes were sent away to give them room to work before the paramedics took the coach to the hospital.
Bishop Lichfield said he is “extremely proud” of his son, who has always had an interest in his medical profession, though the father never explicitly taught him anything like this.
“It‘s interesting to see how we show up to these different scenarios and to reflect on what we’ve soaked up over the years, ... how God prepares us,” Bishop Lichfield said.
One life saved, another changed
A few months later, Hadway returned to coaching, even leading the cross-country team to win the state championship in November.
Grant Lichfield is now 18 and in his final year of high school, still competing. Just last week he won first place running the 3,200-meter event at a high school meet in Spokane Valley. He plans to attend Brigham Young University in the fall.
The Spokesman-Review, a local newspaper, named Lichfield and Graham as Difference Makers of 2024.
Bishop Lichfield explained that this whole experience has changed his son’s life. “He seems to have internalized it and processed it in a constructive way — to capitalize on that experience in his human development."
He added, “I think Grant feels like it was deliberate, that there was order and that he was supposed to be there.”
Grant Lichfield expressed gratitude to God for putting him in the right place at the right time.
“God will give us lots of opportunities to help people,” he said, “but we have to be ready and available to take advantage of those opportunities.”
