From Athletic Business by By Michael Popke 
September 2011

“In May 2009, Tommy Mallon was playing in his final high school lacrosse game for Santa Fe Christian in Solana Beach, Calif., when he collided with an opposing player as both were scrambling for a bouncing ball. The hit initially appeared innocuous, yet Mallon felt a slight numbness in the back of his head. While his impulse was to get up and return to the game, Riki Kirchhoff, an onsite certified athletic trainer, refused to let him. Instead, she placed Mallon on a spineboard and had him transported by ambulance to a nearby trauma center….” The remainder of the article can be found at

http://athleticbusiness.com/articles/article.aspx?articleid=3782&zoneid=33

Rikki was an athletic training student at RCC who then went on to finish her degree at San Diego State University. Rikki is currently finishing  her degree in Physical Therapy.

More information about Tommy Mallon and the foundation formed as a result of his injury can be found at the Advocates for Injured Athletes website at http://www.injuredathletes.org/