Posts Tagged ‘child’
Man catches child by feet in midair after boy fell 30 feet from escalator
It was the catch of a lifetime…and that ‘good catch’ by a San Diego man may have saved the life of a 4-year-old boy.
21-year-old Antonio Jones was at the Mission Viejo Mall Friday with his girlfriend.
The couple craved a burger from Islands Restaurant.
Jones was standing outside the restaurant on the ground floor when he noticed little Jimmy Lavin get tangled in an upstairs escalator.
The escalator hand-rail pulled Lavin upstairs to the second floor.
In an instant, the sobbing boy was carried upward as he dangled off the staircase.
Jones was a few steps away when Lavin hit the top wall was knocked off the escalator rail.
The boy plummeted 30 feet head-first toward the concrete walkway.
Jones reacted… jumping forward and catching the child with one hand on each leg.
It was a near perfect catch… Lavin’s head just barely touched the ground.
The child was taken to a nearby hospital where he was treated for a minor bump on the noggin and released.
Jones is being credited for saving the boy’s life.
SOURCE: San Diego Man Saves Boy From 30-foot Fall
Earthquake victims find healing and compassion [VIDEO]
Watch this story: Earthquake victims find healing and compassion in Springfield
Thousands of miles from the rubble that now overwhelms the nation of Haiti, six children are laughing, growing, and healing at Shriners Hospital for Children in Springfield.
They left behind their families, their comfort zones, and their native languages to get care at the specialty hospital. For the past several weeks, they received around-the-clock, one-on-one attention from a dedicated team of doctors, nurses and volunteers.
The care has helped them to heal not just physically, but emotionally as well. Now, four of the six children are ready to be discharged. Before they can return to Haiti, they will enter the local medical foster care system and continue treatment at Shriners as outpatients.
When they leave the hospital they will be missed, but the impression they made on the hospital and its staff will never be forgotten.
Country doctor saves boy with electric drill
Twelve-year-old Nicholas Rossi was lucky to have seen his 13th birthday on Tuesday, after a bicycle accident in a country town left him with bleeding on the brain.
Nicholas’ mother Karen, a nurse, took him to the district hospital when he complained of a headache. There he experienced seizures and lapsed in and out of consciousness. Doctor Rob Carson recognized the symptoms of a brain hemorrhage, realized he had minutes to act and quickly called Melbourne neurosurgeon David Wallace for procedural advice.
With no neurological drills in the district hospital, Dr. Carson had to improvise. Nicholas was anesthetized while Dr. Carson retrieved an electric drill from the maintenance room. He drilled a hole in Nicholas’ skull just below a bruise mark above his ear and a blood clot soon emerged. He then widened the hole to approximately 1cm in diameter with forceps to allow for the insertion of a drainage tube.
An hour after the makeshift surgery that Nicholas’ father Michael likened to a “military operation,” Nicholas was airlifted to Melbourne’s Royal Children’s Hospital, where he remained under observation until was released yesterday (Tuesday), which also happened to be his 13th birthday.
Awaiting first Mother’s Day after ‘gift from God’
About 12 years ago, Bill and Susan Armbrecht decided to call it quits on trying to have a child.
“We used to avoid going to church on Mother’s Day and Father’s Day because it was too painful,” Bill Armbrecht recalled.
On Sunday, Susan Armbrecht will celebrate her first Mother’s Day. Their daughter, Allie Grace, was born Sept. 28.
“I believe that we wouldn’t have this child if it wasn’t for our faith,” he said. “I truly believe that this baby is a gift from God, the desire of our hearts.”
The Armbrechts had tried for years to conceive. Recalling the fertility treatments, she said, “Bill had to chase me around the house to give me shots.”
They considered adoption, but the cost proved prohibitive.
“The doctors couldn’t tell us why we couldn’t have children, and we couldn’t figure out why we couldn’t have children,” she said.
One day early last year, she felt a little strange and decided that her symptoms must be menopause-related.
Wanting to rule out pregnancy, she used one of the tests sometimes given to female patients at the Alabama Orthopedic Clinic, where she served as a technician in pain management.
Surprised and unsure when she saw the result, she asked a nurse to interpret it. The nurse said that she was pregnant.
On the way home that day she purchased a greeting card, put the test results in it and placed it in the kitchen where her husband could find it.
“Is this for real?” he asked.
As the months advanced, the Armbrechts read everything they could about pregnancy in older women. That information caused some concern, but they decided against medical tests such as amniocentesis — used to identify potential birth defects and other problems.
Instead, the Armbrechts relied on their faith.
Susan Armbrecht said that she experienced a smooth pregnancy, with no morning sickness and little weight gain.
Allie Grace arrived three weeks early, a situation her father jokingly blames on the excitement of the Alabama-Georgia football game played the previous day.
“She heard all the yelling and screaming and said that she wasn’t going to miss the rest of the season,” said Bill Armbrecht, a Crimson Tide fan and owner of The Brick Pit, a local barbecue restaurant.
Sitting in the living room of their west Mobile home recently, they played with Allie Grace and joked about being simultaneously amazed and sleepy.
Bill Armbrecht said he hopes their experience will encourage other couples who still want children, but fear parenthood is beyond their reach.
Allie Grace’s parents now playfully compete about their daughter’s future: Mom wants her to be a ballet dancer and a cheerleader. Dad wants her to become the first female field goal kicker on scholarship at Alabama.
“What fascinates me the most is that every day I’m holding this little girl, it’s like holding an angel,” he said. “Those blue eyes look up at me and I feel like I’m holding an angel.”
“She wakes up at 2 a.m. and 4 a.m. and she’s smiling,” Susan Armbrecht said. “You can’t be mad at a baby that’s smiling at you. She’s a good baby. I said if God was going to give me one this late in life, he’s going to give me a good one.”
Read more: Awaiting first Mother’s Day after ‘gift from God’
Narnia comes to life for blind child
Great story from my friend Phillip Murrell.
Today, we got a look at The Lions Narnia Braille Trail.
It’s the second phase of Darrell’s Dream Boundless Playground at Warriors’ Path State Park in Kingsport.
The new addition is a Braille trail that surrounds the existing playground.
It features eight sensory stations telling a story based on “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe” fantasy by C.S. Lewis.
The playground, along with today’s new addition, is a place where children of all abilities can enjoy nature.
“We think it’s important to provide….remove barriers for people who are blind and vision impaired and to removed those barriers so they can play right alongside and learn from one another and their friends,” said Lions Club President Doug Haseltine.
The additions at the boundless playground don’t end with the Lions Narnia Braille Trail.
A tree house will open this fall. It will be accessible to children with and without disabilities.
Watch this story: The Lions Narnia Braille Trail Opens In Kingsport
Couple unaware of pregnancy give birth with help of 911 dispatcher
Make sure you listen to the 911 audio.
For most dispatchers, it is a once-in-a-career experience. For Angie Adams, it came only three days after training ended.
Adams was working the night shift at the Montcalm County Dispatch Center just after 2 a.m. Thursday when she answered a call from a frantic father yelled that his wife was giving birth in the family bathtub — a delivery that apparently came as a surprise to Carri and Ryan Emmons.
Ryan’s report that Carri “thinks she’s having a baby” is quickly firmed up, as Carri can be heard yelling in the background “the head is out!”
“Oh my God, I’m looking at a baby,” the 31-year-old father announced as Adams tried to calm him down and get an address to send medical personnel.
“I didn’t know my wife was pregnant,” Ryan said of his 27-year-old wife, already a mother of three.
“You didn’t know she was pregnant?” Adams asked.
“No, no,” Ryan answers. “(I) had no idea my wife was pregnant.”
Later, Carri gets on the telephone and tells Adams the baby is fine and blowing bubbles.
“What a surprise,” Adams said to Carri.
“Yeah, it was,” Carri responded.
But Adams said she was not concerned about whether the baby was a surprise. She wanted to make sure mother and baby boy were OK.
Adams said her six months of training had her ready.
It showed as Adams kept the frantic husband calm and told him to make sure the baby’s air passages were clear. She even talked to Angie’s 10-year-old son, Tyler, who talked matter-of-factly about the event that seemed to have the adults in a tizzy.
“My mom said there’s like baby poop all over his head,” Tyler said.
Carri later tells Adams that she had never seen a baby right after delivery up close.
“Yeah, they’re usually wiped off,” Adams said.
Ryan also got to deal with the less flowery aspects of birth as he helped gathered the placenta from the bathtub so it could be examined by doctors.
“Ugh, … disgusting,” Ryan moans.
But the reward came as the new boy’s cries were heard loud and strong over the phone lines.
“Well, that baby’s got some good lungs,” Adams said.
Read more and hear the audio from the 911 call: Couple unaware of pregnancy gives birth at home with help of rookie 911 dispatcher
Family finds the Easter Bunny’s nephew? [Video]
Doctor Carrie Sutor lives across the street from where the baby bunny debuted.
It was certainly the hours-old bunny’s misfortune to become separated from his mother who must have built her nest in the mulch pile, but the fact that Doctor Sutor is a veterinarian may have proven lucky for the little guy.
“He got into the right mulch delivery,” Dr. Sutor said.
Unfortunately, a second baby rabbit who rolled out of the mulch didn’t make it.
The Sutor children were thrilled with the unexpected arrival and have named the bunny Sweetie Pie, although Floppsie might be more appropriate.
“I thought it was the Easter Bunny’s nephew because it’s little,” Olivia Sutor said.
In 11 years of practice Dr. Sutor has never had a patient or pet this tiny. Giving Sweetie Pie some oxygen was a challenge. Instead of wearing a mask, the bunny sat inside the mask. He also got some fluids.
“He’s looking better than he did yesterday afternoon, so I think he’s going to do okay,” Dr. Sutor said.
In a couple of weeks, the Sutors will know if the bunny can be domesticated or must be set free. Of course, the children are hoping they can keep him.
Dr. Sutor will take Sweetie Pie home over the weekend so she can keep an eye on him, so the lucky bunny will spend Easter with his new, if not accidental, family.
Watch this story: Baby bunny surprise for doctor’s family
Dogs help children learn to read [Video]
Burgh, a Bernese Mountain dog, is assisting in the Tailwaggin’ Tutors program.
“When it’s time for the kids to read, they sit down, she sits down next to them and she listens,” said Carol Vernon, a library employee.
It doesn’t even matter that all the stories sound the same to Burgh.
“(The children are) breaking out of their shell,” said Chris Bohrer, the dog’s owner. “They’re not so afraid to be around either a dog or an adult and they generally start reading louder and louder.”
The program has made for positive results.
“I just think because you’re training and reading to at least somebody before you read to an actual real person,” said Tommy Fanning of the Reading To Dogs program. “Whether it’s getting over shyness or just getting confidence in their ability to read aloud, or whether it’s actually improving their reading, I hear about it from the parents.”
The children are going from beginning readers to chapter books in a matter of weeks.
“However you can get them to love reading or enjoy reading, I think it’s a wonderful thing,” said Janel Fanning, the mother of one of the students in the program.
Read more and watch this story: Dogs Helping Children Learn To Read
Girl makes special greeting cards for sick Dad
This is a remarkable young girl who is shining in the face of a major tragedy. This story is heart-wrenching, but there is something strangely inspirational about it.
If you can… please take the time to buy a stack of cards or donate to the family. I know that I will!
Watch this story with some tissue near by.
It would be hard to say no to Reese Schroeder, a beautiful 5-year-old girl with a big smile and her father’s green eyes. But it would be impossible to turn her away from your doorstep once you hear why she wants to sell her cards.
“Because I wanted to raise money for my dad because he’s in the hospital. But now, he’s not in the hospital anymore because he died,” she said.
Jon Schroeder died early Tuesday morning months after he’d been admitted to the hospital for pneumonia. He was 29 years old.
While at the hospital, he suffered a collapsed lung and was diagnosed with Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS), a rare and almost fatal disease.
During her father’s long stay at the hospital, Reese’s kindergarten art teacher decided an art project might help. She kept Reese after kindergarten for two weeks and helped her draw pictures of animals that would be printed on cards.
Julie Bauman didn’t even know the Schroeders but knew she wanted to do something to help.
“Stacie (Reese’s mom) is now a single mom with little three kids and I just knew there would be a lot of possible expenses to keep the house going, I just figured anything we could do to help,” Bauman said.
Bauman got a local printer to donate the card printing and then recruited volunteers to put the packets of cards together. She also brought Reese to her Monticello neighborhood to sell the cards to her neighbors.
“I think it’s really sweet, really sweet of her teacher and it’s really sweet that she’s able to go out and do that for her dad,” said Stacie Schroeder. “He would have been so proud of her.”
Jon never saw all of the cards while he was in the hospital because he was too sick. But he’ll be buried with them with a special note from Reese.
“I feel kind of happy that he chose to go with Jesus, but I do feel kind of sad that he’s not with us,” she said.
You can make a donation to the Jon Schroeder Benefit Account at:
Wells Fargo Bank
12916 Main St
Rogers, MN 55374You can also buy Reese’s card from the Albertville Primary School, 763-497-2688. They are $10 for a pack of 6. The money will go to help Stacie Schroeder raise her three kids.
Watch this story: Girl Makes Special Greeting Cards For Sick Dad
Heroic PE teacher pushes mother and children from path of car
A physical-education teacher at A.K. Suter Elementary School in Pensacola is being called a hero after he was struck by a car this morning near the school while he protected children.
Patrick Judd was transported to Baptist Hospital. Colleen Kirsch, spokeswoman for the hospital, said Judd was in good condition this morning.
Deputy Superintendent Norm Ross said witnesses saw Judd push a mother and her two children out of the path of an oncoming car.
By doing so, Judd took the brunt of the hit and suffered a leg injury.
District officials applauded Judd’s selfless actions Friday.
Laura Richards, 37, dropped off 6-year-old Abigail for school this morning and was crossing the street while talking with Judd.
She had 2-year old Laura Sophia sitting on her hip and 4-year-old Isabella holding her hand as she walked.
“He jumped back to take the full impact,” Richards said of Judd. “I don’t really know what happened. It happened so quickly but when it was all said and done we were safe on the side of the road and my daughters’ flip flops were still on the pavement.”
Richards said she know Judd because she sees him every morning and afternoon doing crossing guard duty. The last day of school before Christmas break, Richards said, Judd wears a Santa Claus costume while guiding traffic.
“We’re so grateful,” she said. “We pray for him and that he’ll be alright. If if he hadn’t been there it would have been us. My two little girls are so tiny.”
“The incident this morning was certainly an act of heroism,” Ross said. “It doesn’t surprise me at all. He’s been a longtime employee and has demonstrated throughout his career his dedication to students and the school.”
Superintendent Malcolm Thomas said he was proud of Judd’s service to the schools.
“This is just another example of the dedication of our employees in this district,” Thomas said.
In 1999 Judd won the Elementary School Physical Education Teacher of the Year Award from the county.
Read more and see the family he saved: ‘An act of heroism’
