Published: Jun 17, 2005 DES MOINES, Wash. (AP) - Two cable repairmen who learned CPR in case their families ever needed help rescued a 10-year-old boy who fell into a swimming pool, sank to the bottom and stopped breathing.
Posted on 06/17/2005 7:48:03 AM PDT by TheOtherOne
Cable Repair Workers Rescue 10-Year-Old Boy Who Fell to Bottom of Swimming Pool
Published: Jun 17, 2005 DES MOINES, Wash. (AP) - Two cable repairmen who learned CPR in case their families ever needed help rescued a 10-year-old boy who fell into a swimming pool, sank to the bottom and stopped breathing.
Without Todd Hickam and Ryan Thornhill, Jamario Covington "wouldn't be here right now," said his mother, Melody Covington. The boy remained hospitalized Friday in stable condition.
Jamario was wearing swim trunks Monday when he fell into the pool at a townhouse development in this Seattle suburb and sank to the bottom. A babysitter thought he was fooling around, but then minutes went by.
Hickam and Thornhill were in the neighborhood to do maintenance for Comcast when they heard a woman yelling. They saw the boy in 8 feet of water, and Hickam, 38, jumped into the pool still wearing all his gear. He pulled the boy to the water's edge while Thornhill called 911, and then together they pulled Jamario onto the deck and revived him.
"The things that they do as civilians, that's what they teach us in the military," said the boy's father, Larry Covington, who has been serving in the Army in South Korea and came home after the accident. "I wanted to let them know that I'm going to count that blessing every day that they gave to me and my family and that I'm defending this country for them as well as my family."
Said Hickham, "You're a cable guy and you look a lot like that, then one day, you come to work and the next thing you know, you're saving a life and cable's just cable.
"And saving a boy's life - of all days I ever worked, this was the greatest day I ever worked."
The technicians said they took CPR training offered by Comcast because they have children at home themselves.
"That's something I recommend to everybody to learn," Thornhill told ABC's "Good Morning America" on Friday.
"First thing I thought of was my own kids after it all happened," he said.
Drownings are the second-leading cause of injury-related death for children ages 1 to 14, according to the Centers for Disease Control. In 2001, 859 children younger than 15 died from drowning, the CDC says.
AP-ES-06-17-05 1032EDT
Get'er done!
Those cable guys!!
"Jamario Covington"
Thanks to lifesaving cable repairmen, boy will live to change his name.
Braindead
It is a great story. These guys are great!
But I have 2 questions:
1 Why was the kid with a babysitter?
2 What kind of a babysitter would stand there screaming instead of jumping in to rescue the kid?
Fire the BBsitter and max out your cable service.
Great job guys.
A babysitter thought he was fooling around, but then minutes went by.
&&
Thank God for men and their ability to act quickly!
Mom was at work? Mom was at doctor's appointment? Mom was at hairdresser?
It's summer. A parent who wants or needs to do something without the child along needs a babysitter sometimes.
2. What kind of a babysitter would stand there screaming instead of jumping in to rescue the kid?
The kind who can't swim, I imagine.
As they drove by the swimming pool at the middle of the complex Hickam saw a woman waving and calling for help.
"And I go what's wrong and she goes the bottom of the pool. And I said the bottom of the pool? So I ran over there and there's a child at the bottom of the pool eight feet deep," said Hickam.
Ryan Thornhill was in another Comcast Cable truck. He stopped next and immediately called 911.
"It was scary but you just jumped right into it you knew exactly what to do," he said.
"I went down to the bottom of the pool and I grabbed him and I pulled him up," said Hickam who jumped into the pool in full uniform including his boots and a safety harness. "And Ryan came over and helped me pull him out of the pool."
Then these two guys who install cable TV and internet for a living displayed the other technical skills they had learned in a class at Comcast Cable less than one year ago.
The company, for a variety of reasons including giving workers the ability to save each other, requires CPR classes every two years.
"We turned him over on his side. He wasn't breathing. He was unconscious," said Hickam.
Had either of them ever done CPR on a real person before I asked them? "Never," said Thornhill. "Just on a dummy. Never. It was intense."
And it was intense twice. The boy stopped breathing a second time so Thornhill gave him several more breaths.
"I rolled him back over and started breathing again and he came around to where he was breathing," he said.
"Just went and did it," said Hickam. "You can't hesitate when you see a child at the bottom of a pool."
The 10-year-old boy was alive and by the time paramedics arrived the men say the boy responded when medics asked him to open his eyes.
"Emotionally when it was over I was torn up," said Hickam. "I still feel it right now and just wanted to cry for the kid. And I just hope he's OK."
Late Monday night the boy was in critical condition at Children's Hospital in Seattle. But medics who responded to the accident say the boy's survival to this point depended these two men from Comcast Cable.
"It was a good day," said Thornhill. "A great day. It was a really great day."
1. Not everyone has the luxury of being able to sustain their family on a single income.
2. The kind that gets fired later that day or tossed in jail for neglegance.
The kind who can't swim, I imagine.
***
Possibly. A babysitter who can't swim has no business minding a child by a swimming pool.
No argument from me on that, especially if the child can't swim, either. None of the stories has mentioned why he jumped in the pool and sank like a stone in the deep end ... hit his head on the side? Seizure?
Amen. Also, what happened with the 10 year old? Could he swim? If neither could swim, they had no business being at the pool. Sheesh. And I'm paranoid when I'm in the pool with my kids.
Way to go, Thornill! This kind of thing isn't that common in WA state where few have pools. Thank God these guys had the training, were in the area, and ready to act.
I'm having trouble understanding why the babysitter didn't jump in to save the kid. If she can't swim, she has no business having the kid near the pool.
Good for the cable guys.
Yeah, it's summer here in Seattle. It got up to 69 today!!!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.