Florida couple pushes for certified athletic trainers at schools after son's death

Duval County high schools will have three new certified athletic trainers next fall.

It’s the latest milestone in Project 17, which aims to put certified athletic trainers in all 17 Duval County public high schools by 2020.

The placement of the new athletic trainers was announced at a sports injury symposium in Jacksonville on Friday.

In attendance were Ed and Laurie Giordano, a couple who lost their son after he collapsed during football conditioning last year.

“He was a gentle giant,” Ed Giordano said. “He was one of the most caring and loving individuals you’d ever meet.”

The couple says their son Zach had just finished sprints with his team at Riverdale High School in Lee County when he became unresponsive.

“One of the teammates came over and said, ‘You gotta come help us, we can’t get Zach up,’” Laurie Giordano said. “At the time I thought he was cramping.”

She said it was clear her son was not OK.

“The coach just sort of said, ‘Now is not the time to panic. I’ve seen this before. He’s just a little overheated. We just have to get some fluids in him and he’ll be fine,” Laurie Giordano said. “I looked at him and said, ‘Call 911, he’s obviously not conscious.’”

Zach was taken to a hospital. Laurie Giordano said his core temperature was 107 degrees when he got there.

The Giordanos say doctors did all they could to keep Zach alive, but his brain filled with fluid and he died from complications from heat stroke.

“I wish there was somebody on the field who understood the condition Zach was in and understood the treatment that was necessary,” Ed Giordano said.

They’ve been working to get certified athletic trainers at high schools and make school sports safer for children since Zach’s death.

“As a parent, you want to know your child is safe. You want to know that there is someone there doing that kind of prevention,” said Peter Racine, senior vice president of the Jaguars Foundation.

The Jaguars Foundation is just one of several partners working to bring the certified athletic trainers to Duval County schools.

Read more about Project 17 on the Jacksonville Sports Medicine Program website.

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