Maine football player suffers potentially life-threatening injury during game

TURNER, Maine (AP) — A quick response from coaches and medical technicians is being credited with saving the life of a senior football player in Maine.

The Sun Journal reports that Leavitt Area High School senior football player Adam Smith suffered a ruptured spleen in the second half of a Saturday afternoon game against Greely High School in Cumberland Center.

Coaches say it happened when he was struck in the abdomen by a Greely player. An assistant coach for Leavitt summoned a doctor on the Greely staff. The doctor arranged for him to be taken to the hospital.

Leavitt coach Mike Hathaway says doctors described Smith’s injury as a ‘‘Grade 5’’ injury that could have been fatal if not immediately treated.

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Smith is expected to be hospitalized for at least a week.

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