Melissa Grable experienced something no parent should ever have to go through. Her 17-month old son, Aidan, was taking a nap with his grandmother, Cheri. The toddler had a cold and a nap was exactly something he needed. What had turned into a regular today all of a sudden became a nightmare.
Cheri found that Aidan wasn’t breathing. Panicked, she yelled for Melissa to call 911. Tim Webb picked up on the other line.
Webb: “Anybody there that knows CPR?”
Grable: “No! No! What do we do?”
It was at this moment that Webb knew he had to make a decision – and he had to do it fast. Webb himself knows CPR, but the local police department does not have an emergency medical dispatch certification, meaning that he is not allowed to provide CPR instructions over the phone. Webb decided in that moment that he had to break protocol in order to save this young boy’s life. He calmly instructed Cheri how to give compressions and breaths. Cheri followed his instructions until medical personnel were able to reach the family.
Two months after that traumatic day in December, Aidan has made a full recovery. He, his mother, and grandmother recently visited Tim to properly thank him face to face for saving young Aidan.
“It makes you realize why you get up, why you come to work, and why you do what you do,” says Webb.
