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Teen Being Called a Hero For Administering Emergency CPR to Toddler While At Work
A teenager from Tennessee is being called a hero for her quick thinking.
Kaela Eads was working at a local fast-food restaurant when a woman came in asking for major help. The woman had just taken an order from the drive-thru and was about to drive away when she realized her son was not breathing. Luckily for the woman in need, Eads was ready to help and performed CPR right on the spot.
“She said, ‘Can someone help me? He’s not breathing,’” Eads told InsideEdition.com. “I ran outside and took off my apron and laid him on top of it and started doing CPR.”
The 18-year-old learned CPR during a class in high school, but never thought she would have to use it in real life.
“Part of the class was doing CPR training and I always thought, I work at Pal’s, when am I going to need to use CPR?” Eads told Fox News Insider.
Eads immediately began doing chest compressions on the boy hoping to get him breathing once again.
“I started doing chest compressions. I got him to breathe at one point and then he stopped breathing again. I did it again and I got to him to constantly breathe faintly, but I thought to myself I am going to face the inevitable if I don’t try,” said Eads to Inside Edition.
An ambulance arrived shorty after Eads began CPR and the boy was rushed to the hospital. The paramedics explained that Eads early action “saved the boy’s life.”
“Early recognition is so important during a medical emergency,” Darrell Mears, Bristol Tennessee Fire Department paramedic, told the Bristol Herald Courier. “If you don’t start doing compressions within six minutes, the brain can start to die because it needs oxygen.”
He continued, “You can’t just have someone pushing on the chest. Receiving CPR training that is taught through a licensed professional or the American Red Cross is so very important as well.”
The amazing action didn’t really settle in on Eads until she knew the boy was fine.
“I really wanted to know how the boy was doing and the only way that I would ever know was to just go out to the hospital and check,” Eads said to the Bristol Herald Courier. “I went to the hospital on Wednesday, not knowing his name or anything, but the front desk was able to find the family and they agreed to let me visit. The boy was doing OK and the entire family was so very thankful for everything.”
Eads didn’t think her brave action would go viral and is truly amazed by how many people have heard her story.
“I am astonished by how far this story has traveled, but the little boy’s family and I are still giving god the glory!” Eads told Your Daily Dish via Facebook. “I honestly don’t remember much of when it was happening because of the adrenaline rush, but I wholeheartedly believe God was right beside me helping me through the whole thing.”
For Eads, the whole experience was something she will never forget.
“It touches my heart,” Eads told the Bristol Herald Courier. “From seeing that blank stare in his eyes to seeing him at the hospital, it was a total change for the good. It’s something I’ll remember forever and I’m glad that I got the opportunity to help save a life and to know that he’s doing OK makes it even better.”
See the amazing rescue below.