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L.I. Soccer Coach Saves Seventh Grader's Life

AMITYVILLE, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- A Long Island soccer coach is being hailed a hero after saving a student.

Seventh-grader Kiavelyn Altagracia was trying out for the soccer team at Edmund W. Miles Middle School in Amityville  when she suddenly collapsed on the field Monday.

"I told my friend I wasn't feeling good and then I fainted," Altagracia told 1010 WINS' Mona Rivera.

L.I. Soccer Coach Saves Seventh Grader's Life

Her coach, Isha Hamilton, rushed over and found the 12-year-old girl was unconscious and had stopped breathing.

Kiavelyn Altagracia
Kiavelyn Altagracia (credit: Mona Rivera/1010 WINS)

"Her lips were turning very blue, her hands looked like there was nothing circulating, no blood," Hamilton said. "It was very scary. Honestly, inside I was screaming and terrified and just hoping for the best."

Hamilton started CPR and used a portable defibrillator on the field to save Altagracia's life.

"She gave a big deep breath, like it came from way within," Hamilton WCBS 880's Sophia Hall. "At that moment when I saw that I just felt a sigh of relief. I was just happy to see that she was breathing on her own."

Doctors are still running tests to determine why Altagracia stopped breathing.

L.I. Soccer Coach Saves Seventh Grader's Life

The young girl thanked her coach for saving her life and said she now wants to learn CPR.

"If that happens to someone else I really want to help them," Altagracia said.

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