PRINCE GEORGE, Va. -- Family and first responders celebrated the first birthday of a “miracle baby” at a firehouse in Prince George County Thursday evening.
One-year-old Bradley has a second chance thanks to the quick thinking on his stepfather, who was trained in CPR.
“I’ve known it for about 13 years now,” Trey Pulver said.
The skill was put to the test on Oct. 10 after the family returned home from the grocery store when the toddler slipped outside.
Minutes later Pulver said the boy’s 12-year-old brother started screaming, “Bradley’s dead,” after the child fell into a Koi pond.
“His mother had snatched him out of the pond,” Pulver recalled. “I get him, threw my two fingers on the back of him and I started doing my thing. Then I compressed two hard times and shot water out of him, so then I kept on…”
When Prince George County Fire & EMS Battalion Chief Jason Coker arrived, he spotted the family.
“The first thing I noticed was CPR was being performed and it was being performed pretty good,” Coker said.
The battalion chief took over CPR on the boy, who he described as “blue and lifeless,” until EMS crews arrived.
Paramedic Ruthie Grant said her team got Bradley into the ambulance “pretty quick from when we got on scene,” gave him oxygen and began to monitor his vitals.
“He had a very weak pulse, wasn’t strong enough to sustain life,” Grant recalled.
The medic unit headed to the hospital as paramedics continued to work on Bradley.
When they had almost arrived at the hospital, Grant said everyone onboard breathed a “collective sigh of relief” when the boy started crying.
Bradley, who was in the hospital for a couple of days, appeared to be doing just fine at his birthday party at the fire station Thursday.
“I’m super happy to see him alive, thriving, being a kid and getting that opportunity,” Grant said.
Fire and EMS officials credited Bradley’s survival to the CPR he received so early after losing consciousness.
“It’s no question that the outcome would have been a parents’ nightmare if they didn’t start CPR before we got there,” Coker acknowledged.
Coker said the close call illustrates why everyone should learn CPR as you never know when you might be able to save someone's life.
To learn more about CPR training, contact your local fire department or click here to visit the American Red Cross website.
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