SALT LAKE CITY — Four Judge Memorial Catholic High School students have used their talents, offered their time and achieved goals during the 2012-2013 school year.
Judge Memorial junior Pierce Allen, a ski patroller at Park City Mountain Resort, was awarded the "Purple Merit Star" by the National Ski Patrol for saving a man’s life after he suffered a cerebral aneurysm while skiing.
Also on the Park City ski patrol is senior Marshal Wallace, who was recognized as the "Rookie of the Year" as well as being a member of the "Team of the Year."
Katy Bonacci represented Utah by competing at the Junior National Cross Country Ski Championship in Birch Hill, Alaska, and sophomore Saylor Soinski spent a week last winter as a volunteer at the International Special Olympics in Korea.
Allen is in the Judge Memorial Sports Medicine Program and holds an Emergency Medical Response certificate. He is a first-year ski patroller. The incident that resulted in the award began with a standard call that someone was injured at the bottom of a lift.
"When I first responded, the guest was unconscious and having difficulty breathing," said Allen. "I kept his airway stable and kept him breathing and made the call to AirMed to get him off the mountain. He didn’t require CPR, but I did use a tube instrument that I put into his nose to reopen his airway, and since he was unconscious, there were points that I was breathing for him. The paramedics arrived and got him to the hospital, which ultimately saved his life."
This was Allen’s first full season on the ski patrol, but he has been training since he was 14. "This year I could first respond on my own," he said. "I didn’t see the award coming, but I was really excited."
Wallace is a second-year ski patroller and holds an Emergency Medical Response certificate he received through the Judge Memorial Sports Medicine Program, and a National Outdoor Emergency Care certification.
"I joined the junior ski patrol as a sophomore and have the same responsibilities as any other ski patroller," said Wallace. "One of the biggest things I’ve learned is that it is one of those jobs where I have to use my best patroller’s judgment, or PBJ, and a lot of scenarios come down to an injured guest in a snowy winter environment, rather than the perfect scenario that I had in class. I’ve learned to take a bad situation and resolve it in the shortest amount of time. My first call this year was someone who had a simple headache and within a minute and a half, he stopped breathing."
Wallace also won Student Patrol of the Year as a junior.
"Allen and Wallace are two very impressive young men, who are motivated, extremely hard-working leaders," said George Angelo, Judge Memorial Sports Medicine Program director. "They are both also trained in the teen Citizen Emergency Response Team program, and they both set up for students to be on call. They are inspirational, in many respects, for the younger students with their enthusiasm for working on weekends as ski patrollers and often share stories and learning experiences that add to the conversation of what we do in class."
Bonacci represented Utah in the Intermountain Region of Montana, Utah, Idaho and Wyoming, and was one of nine in her age group to compete against skiers from across the United States in the National Championship. She placed 5th in the classic relay, 10th in the classic distance, 10th in the freestyle sprint and 19th in the freestyle distance.
Bonacci started skiing as soon as she could walk, and began competing in races when she was in kindergarten and first grade, she said. She skis for the Utah Nordic Alliance and competes throughout Utah and nationally. She trains six days a week year round by running, roller skiing and hiking.
Soinski was a volunteer at the 10th annual International Olympics in South Korea from Jan. 29 to Feb. 5.
"I helped set up and take down equipment, serve breakfast to athletes, and volunteered with unity sports, where the teams were mixed with people with and without intellectual disabilities," she said.
Soinski became involved in the organization because her relatives also volunteer.
"The Special Olympics helped me realize how similar and connected we all are, across borders, languages or disabilities," she said.
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