SISD girls reportedly suffer heat exhaustion after cross-country race

A group of eighth-grade girls reportedly passed out during a Socorro Independent School District cross-country race at the Student Activities Complex Tuesday afternoon.

Pia Sosa tells ABC-7 her daughter suffered heat exhaustion after running the race.

“It didn’t have to get to this point where it led to this extreme. I mean our kids are in the hospital now and it’s the next day. It’s just a little traumatic for us as parents,” said Sosa.

Sosa said her daughter arrived at SAC around 1 p.m. and the race started at about 5 p.m. After her daughter passed out, Sosa said she was taken to a field area of the SAC where she was assessed by trainers. As she her condition gradually became worse, Sosa’s daughter was taken to a room at the SAC where she said cold water and ice was thrown on her daughter.

“She was lethargic and unresponsive for about an hour, breathing heavily. We didn’t know what was going on, she was soaked in cold and from what I’m told, they weren’t supposed to do,” recalled Sosa.

According to Sosa’s daughters doctors, the cold water can cause the body to go into shock.

Sosa said the ambulance was called over an hour after her daughter passed out and she’s upset there wasn’t proper medical staff.

SISD tells ABC-7 there is a medic at every event. The medic is supplied by an outside entity and are certified through that entity.

Marivel Macias, Socorro ISD’s assistant superintendent for administrative services said, “Whenever there’s a need, a medic addressed the child initially, makes the decision, and then we actually carry them to another area and we have our transport there so that we can make them a little bit more comfortable, so that could, in this case, get hydrated.”

Sosa said her daughter is doing better and was released from the hospital Wednesday afternoon.