Two health students take a study break, save a life

By ALLISON LONG, MA ’25 // USF Health

Taylor Clayton and Julia Riordan needed a break.

It was late August, and the two physician assistant students had been studying for their final exams in the USF Health Downtown building for hours. They grabbed their earbuds and headed out for a stroll.

As they walked along the Tampa Riverwalk, they saw someone run toward a tour bus. A man lay on the pavement nearby, a handful of people gathered around him. When the bystanders saw Clayton and Riordan in their medical scrubs, they asked if the two were doctors. The man has no pulse, they said.

“We looked at each other and told them, ‘We’re just students, but we’ll try our best,’” Riordan says.

They’d been in the physician assistant program for only three months, but in that split second, every theory, every practice session on manikins, every lecture became real. They began performing CPR, instructing the bystanders to call 911 and to find an automated external defibrillator. Within five minutes, they had a heartbeat.

By the time paramedics arrived, the man was conscious.

Speechless, Clayton and Riordan headed back to USF Health Downtown. Did that really just happen? They’d performed CPR on a real person — a person who was now alive because they’d acted!

But they couldn’t marvel for long. They still had finals to study for.

“I was amazed that two young students had the presence of mind and composure to step forward and provide life-saving assistance,” says Larry Collins, associate director of the physician assistant program. “These are exactly the kinds of students we attract to our program.”

Clayton and Riordan later learned the man was a veteran attending a convention in town. While boarding the bus, he lost his balance and fell backward, hitting his head. Whether the cardiac arrest caused the fall or vice versa, they never learned.

About six weeks later, as their cohort received their first white coats during a special ceremony, the two were awarded USF Health Culture Coins for performing an extraordinary act that exemplifies USF values.

“I’ve always thought that I might panic under pressure, but I definitely left that day feeling incredibly proud,” Riordan says. “Everyone should have more confidence in themselves. You’re more capable than you think.”

To read the full story, go to usf.to/PALifesavers.