When Chad Riley took a CPR class five years ago, he paid attention to the instructor. That turned out to be a blessing to one family whose seven-year-old son's life was saved by Riley's knowledge and training.
Riley, his wife Amanda and their children spent a sunny Labor Day weekend Sunday afternoon at Mon Dye Bottoms on Upper Bear Creek. Along with another family, the Rileys were part of a sizable holiday crowd enjoying a long weekend watching their children swim in the lake.
“Everyone watches everyone's kids while they're swimming,” Riley said.
As he exited the water, Riley heard a man scream, “Oh my God, is that a boy?”
The man pulled the child out from under the water and placed him on the shore. The seven-year-old boy was purple, cold and not breathing.
The child's uncle attempted to begin cardio pulmonary resuscitation but soon realized he wasn't sufficiently knowledgeable to administer CPR to his nephew. With the child's family crowded around him, his uncle pleaded for someone knowledgeable in CPR to help.
Without hesitation, Riley, himself a father of a seven-year-old son, jumped in to help.
“I took CPR training in boilermaker school five years ago. I jumped down there and started CPR. I did it for three or four minutes until he took a breath,” Riley said. “He started gushing out water from his mouth and I kept doing CPR. We got the water out of his lungs by tilting him on his side and he started breathing by the time the ambulance got there,” Riley added.
The boy was transported to Russellville Hospital and then to a Birmingham hospital by helicopter. He spent a week in the hospital with pneumonia but was discharged with a clean bill of health.
Riley, who knew the child's uncles, was invited to the family's home to visit with the young man whose life he saved.
“He's perfectly fine now. He said he was looking for a shark underwater and that's why he went below the surface,” Riley said. “They told me the doctors said I did a very good job and he had no permanent brain damage or anything as a result.”
A hero in the eyes of many, including the young boy and his family, Riley said he did what he hoped any parent would do faced with a similar situation.
“His parents were next to me screaming and scared as any parents would be. It was real hard to jump in there and do it but the boy was purple, ice cold and not breathing,” Riley said. “His family was looking at me to save him. It was a difficult thing to do with a seven-year-old child involved. I have a seven-year-old myself.”
Riley said any fear he had in jumping in to help was nothing compared to the emotions the child's parents were experiencing.
“It was scary for his family and for my family but I'm very thankful I took that class a few years back. It was a two-day CPR class and nobody thought we'd ever use it and then something like this happens,” Riley said.
While Riley never hesitated to jump in and save someone else's child, he believes he remained calm knowing it was another family's child he was helping.
“When we got home, I told Amanda I don't know if I could do that to my own kid. I know I'd have to try but I'm not sure if I'd be in too much panic. It would be very difficult,” Riley said.
Thanks to one man and a CPR class five years earlier, a tragic situation was avoided. But Riley diffused any praise away from himself.
“I don't consider myself a hero at all. I'd like to think someone would help my kid if I wasn't around or couldn't do it. It's what any parent would do,” Riley said.
