Irvington HS athletic trainer comes to the rescue

IRVINGTON, NJ — Athletic trainers have to be on their toes whenever they are on the job, whether it’s during practice or at a game. 

If there is an emergency, they have to be ready and come to the rescue.

That was certainly the case for first-year Irvington High School athletic trainer Mackenzie Livermore at Irvington Park on March 29. But what was particularly unique on that day was that he had to help two athletes with different emergencies.

Livermore was covering a pre-season softball scrimmage when he got a call that there was an Irvington tennis player who got stung by a bee during a pre-season scrimmage with Snyder of Jersey City. Luckily, the tennis courts were also at Irvington Park. Livermore got his first-aid bag and immediately went to the courts. The player had his headphones on at the time. A bee became trapped in the headphones and stung him. Livermore got a bag of ice to reduce the swelling and the player turned out to be fine.

Livermore then went back to the softball game to continue covering that game. About 45 minutes later, he got another call about a Snyder tennis player who went into a seizure. Livermore grabbed his bag and raced back to the tennis courts to help the player who was dehydrated since he was fasting because of Ramadan. Irvington tennis head coach Salim Laib helped Livermore get the player to move him to safety and keep working with him as his head started to clear up until an ambulance arrived. The student stayed overnight in a hospital and was okay the next day, according to Irvington athletic director John Taylor.

Since that day, everybody has asked Livermore about those critical episodes. Livermore said that his training in college helped him prepare for such situations.

“It’s just what you are taught to do and I’m glad I was able to be there and help the situation,” Livermore said.

Livermore credited Laib, who he said remained calm and did a great job in assisting.

After graduating from Delaware Valley High School in 2012, Livermore attended Misericordia College in Pennsylvania where he played soccer. He really didn’t know what he wanted to major in until he got injured playing soccer and spent a lot of time in the athletic trainer’s room. That’s when Livermore knew he wanted to become an athletic trainer.

Following his graduation in 2017, Livermore went to graduate school at Seton Hall University where he earned his master’s degree two years later. 

Livermore got his first athletic training position at Felician University where he remained for one year. He then became the athletic trainer at Saint Thomas Aquinas College in Orangeburg, N.Y. Livermore said Abbey Fallon, who was the head athletic trainer at both colleges, brought him along from Felician to St. Thomas Aquinas. “She’s a big part of where my career is now,” he said.

Livermore had a family friend who worked in Irvington and informed him that the athletic trainer position was open there. He applied, got the position and has been at Irvington since August.

Livermore said it’s not easy to get a high school athletic trainer job right out of college, but he wanted to work at a high school.

Livermore, indeed, loves working at Irvington.

“I love it, it’s great,” he said with enthusiasm. “I like how dedicated they are to their sports and I like, for me personally, how busy it is, because it just makes days go by easier and keeps me on my toes and I get to see so much stuff because there is so much stuff going on, that’s kind of like the way I like to work.”

Irvington has eight varsity sports in the spring. Taylor, the IHS athletic director, acknowledged that it can be overwhelming, but he is amazed that Livermore has done such a masterful job. 

“With Mack, his care for every student is second to none. He goes out of his way to help our students,” Taylor said.

To Livermore, being an athletic trainer at a high school, especially at Irvington, has always been his dream. 

“After I got a couple of years of experience, I finally got the opportunity and I love it so far. It’s great,” he said.

Photo Courtesy of Felicia Laguerre Owens

  Irvington High School athletics, Irvington High School boys tennis