One Town, One Team. The phrase has long been the motto for San Clemente High School, identifying the true Triton spirit. It took on a whole new meaning when members of the athletic department, led by head soccer coach Chris Murray and athletic trainer Amber Anaya, worked together to save the life of an assistant coach.
Chris was addressing the team following practice one afternoon in September with assistant coach John Merritt. At one point, when Chris glanced to his side, he noticed John was on the ground. There was no shout, no dramatic fall — just a quiet collapse that didn’t seem real at first. “I thought maybe he tripped,” Chris recalled. “But then he wasn’t moving.”
Instinct took over. He told the players to step back, to give space. The football coaches, nearby preparing for their own practice, called 911 and came over to help. Chris’ first instinct was not to move him, but when he saw his face was turning blue, he went to action.
“I just flipped him over and started CPR,” Chris said. “I’d done the training before, and two things hit me — get the athletic trainer and the automated external defibrillator (AED). Luckily, help was close.”
He started compressions, remembering from training that ribs could break, but saving a life mattered more. “I honestly thought he was dead,” he said quietly. “His eyes were just staring, like saucers.”
Still, he kept going. Foam started to appear at John’s mouth — a sign his body was shutting down — but to Chris, it looked like a sign of life. “So I kept pressing,” he said. “It was strange. I didn’t feel tired, just focused. Like something else was controlling me.”
Within two minutes, Amber arrived. She’d been preparing for the JV football game when she received a text on her Apple Watch: “Emergency.” She grabbed her medical bag, AED, and equipment from her golf cart and sped toward the field.
“As I came down the hill, I could see someone doing compressions,” Amber recalled. “When I got closer, I realized it was Chris.”
She immediately took charge, confirming 911 was on the line. She told Chris not to stop. While he continued compressions, Amber pulled the AED from her kit, attached the pads, and turned the device on. “It told us to stay calm,” she said. “We followed every prompt.”
When the AED analyzed John’s heartbeat, it advised one shock. Amber called out for everyone to clear. “We stepped back, it delivered the shock, and then it told us to resume compressions. That was Chris’s cue to keep going.”
They worked in sync — Amber giving directions, Chris pumping through another round. By the time the EMS crew arrived, they’d been fighting to save John for about six minutes.
The paramedics took over seamlessly, delivering another shock and continuing CPR before loading John into the ambulance. As the sirens faded, his adrenaline drained and Chris dropped to his knees. “That’s when it hit me,” he said. “I thought maybe he was gone or that even if he lived, there’d be brain damage.”
But within an hour, word came in that John was conscious. Later that night, Chris spoke to him directly. “When I heard his voice, I just cried again,” he said. “He was talking. No brain damage. He was okay.”
In the days that followed, the story spread through the school community. The football coaches called to thank Chris and Amber. Students shared what they’d seen, applauding some of the older soccer players who cleared the driveways for the ambulance and contacted John’s family.
The event became a powerful lesson. “It wasn’t textbook,” Chris admitted. “But I got the essence right. It reminded everyone why CPR training matters and why knowing where the AED is can save a life.”
Weeks later, the group reunited with the EMT crew at City Hall, honored for their teamwork. John and his wife visited the school too. “His heart was strong,” Amber said. “He has a pacemaker now, but he’s doing great. No restrictions, no damage, just recovery.”
For everyone involved, the experience changed something fundamental.
“It proved how training pays off,” Chris reflected. “You never think you’ll need it until the moment you do.”