According to the authors of a 2008 study in the journal Pediatrics, gymnastics has the one of the highest injury rates of all girl’s sports. And that’s no surprise considering what these tiny dynamos are taught to do!
An estimated 425,900 children aged 6 through 17 were treated in U.S. hospital emergency departments for gymnastics-related injuries alone during the 16-year period between 1990 and 2005. That comes out to about 26,600 injuries a year that are bad enough to warrant an ER visit – for just one country.
Luckily, over 97% are treated and released from the ER.
But it’s normal to worry about the other 3%. 9-year-old Cherrish Remy might have become one of those statistics if not for her quick-thinking and fast-acting coach Chad Buzek.
A video of the save has now gone viral thanks to an Inside Edition interview with those involved a little over a week ago. It’s been viewed over 1.4 million times in just a short period.
Buzek owns Metro South Gymnastics in Canton, Ohio where Remy trains and is used to catching his students mid-air – and looking for signs that they might be off-track.
He’s a former NCAA college gymnast himself and has been involved in the sport for over 20 years.
Remy’s near-accident happened during a competition down in Nashville.
Nut she was lucky her coach was still nearby when she went airborne during a vault and landed off-center.
She nearly fell from the high pile of mats behind her – and luckily we’ll never know what that landing might have looked like.
She might have adjusted mid-air and been just fine, or she might have landed on her head.
But her coach saw her looking off-stride before she even went airborne, so he knew he might be needed.
In the video, you can hear Remy’s mother Justine Ramos gasp as her daughter takes the tumble and Buzek comes out of nowhere to catch her mid-air.
“I instantly broke out into a sweat,” said Ramos. “It’s definitely not the first time he’s saved her.”
It’s clear there’s a lot of trust between this coach and mom.
“A reliable coach is a great coach. You can tell how much the mom appreciates and respects the guy. He’s doing some great work,” remarked one viewer.
In an interview with Inside Edition, mother and daughter recognized Buzek for his reflexes. But he says he actually spends a lot of time catching kids in his profession.
Most YouTube commenters bickered about whether she would have suffered a major or minor injury (or would have even managed to stick the landing on her own).
“Good catch! Could’ve ended with a broken bone or two and months of physical rehabilitation. He timed the catch perfectly and avoided injury to the girl and himself!” said one person.
But others thought it was no big deal:
“Well at the end of the stumble, she looks like she would’ve landed on her feet anyhow…?”
In the end, many saw the most important about the moment:
“She may have landed just fine, but also may have rolled an ankle or broken a leg landing sideways on one of them. Either way, no matter what the outcome could have been, he was still there to catch her.”
Inspired by Simone Biles, Cherrish Remy now has more injury-free days ahead of her thanks to Buzek, who deserves a pat on the back not only for making that catch but for making sure he’s there to catch his other students as well!
Be sure to scroll down to watch the dramatic video.
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