The days leading up to Friday were pretty normal for our family. We were juggling work with dropping and picking up our kids from summer camp and taking them to the ballpark in the evenings. Our oldest is C. He's a lovable 8-year-old boy with who loves video games and playing sports. Our middle child is F. She's a smart and sassy 7-year-old girl who loves to dance, hang out with friends and play sports. Finally, there's CK. At 4 years old, CK is our caboose, and he knows it. He loves to play with and aggravate his older brother and sister. His stubbornness is relentless, but he knows how to give us a sweet puppy face in an attempt to stay out of trouble. To call him spoiled would be an understatement.
CK has had mild breathing and allergy issues since he was born. Every time the weather changed, or he would get a virus, he would wheeze and cough. We were used to it and would always knock it out with the nebulizer machine that we never seemed to be able to put away. In late 2018, we experienced what we thought was every parent's worst nightmare. CK's daycare called and let us know that they had called an ambulance because CK was having trouble catching his breath. My wife S rushed to the school and called me right away indicating that they had hooked him up to oxygen and were headed to Children's Hospital. I left work, caught up with and followed the ambulance. I thought to myself, "This has to be the worst feeling a parent can have." I was wrong. Upon arrival, I ran in the hospital to find CK sitting up and fine. He actually seemed to enjoy all the attention and the ride in the ambulance.
Thursday evening, S returned home with the kids after bringing them across the lake to visit their great grandmother. S recalls CK beginning to start coughing when they were about halfway across the lake, and I heard him as soon as they arrived home. We did what we always have done. We gave him a bath and sat him down with the nebulizer machine. CK dozed off, and we put the kids to bed. A few hours hour later, C came downstairs and alerted us that something was wrong with CK. S rushed upstairs to find CK sleeping, but he was wheezing loudly. She hooked up the nebulizer machine again and started another treatment. CK appeared to improve but no more than an hour later we were back to square one. We moved CK to our bedroom and monitored him for the rest of the night. At around 6:00 am, my wife shook me and said she was going to run CK to the ER at Children's because he had not improved. His breathing was stable and his pulse oximeter readings from a device we kept at home were not overly alarming, but the wheezing was still present after numerous breathing treatments.
S recalls that the first half of the ride the Children's was fairly uneventful. CK was chatting with her and did not appear to be in any distress. When she passed an area, a police car stopped them to let an ambulance through. Apparently, this triggered some sort of fear and panic in CK; he started crying and yelling that he didn't want to go in an ambulance again "like last time". S tried to comfort him while driving and convince him that this ambulance was not for him, but he just kept getting more and more worked up, which led to him coughing and struggling to catch his breath. She immediately called 911. She told them that they already headed to Children's ER for asthma issues, but then things started to decline rapidly.
His pulse oximeter device started producing declining numbers and then it stopped completely. Minutes later, the worst thing imaginable happened. CK slumped over in the seat, and his lips were completely blue. This is the worst feeling a parent could have. S quickly pulled the car to the side of the road, unbuckled CK, laid him out in the middle of the street, and started frantically yelling for help while on the phone with 911. She tried to begin CPR without any training whatsoever. In the world we live in today, it is easy to focus on the negative stories we hear every day, but we are here to tell you not to lose faith in humanity. There are angels among us.
On Friday morning we met several angels, one who is among us today and who we now consider CK's guardian angel. The first Angel was a woman who was taking her morning walk, and she immediately ran over to help. She assisted with the CPR and 911 call to the best of her ability. The second angel was another lady, who was in her home near where S pulled over and heard the cries for help. She came out, called 911 as well, and then she called me. She assured me that she would take care of my wife and help get CK to the hospital. At this point, there was now S and two or three other people trying to breathe life back into CK, but nothing seemed to be working- and CK did not have any visible pulse.
Then, our third Angel appeared. A lady was also driving down River Road and saw the commotion in the middle of the street. She got out of her and rushed over. She identified herself as Re'Keitha, a Children's Hospital NICU nurse, and asked if she could take over CPR. S was still in a panic but felt some relief that a well-trained medical professional was now at the scene. Re'Keitha got to work. She used her training and experience to perform CPR and assist the EMS personnel with inserting a small tube down his airway to get oxygen flow when they bagged him. Meanwhile, the others comforted my wife as best as they could.
Once they had loaded CK into the ambulance, my wife was about to get in when one of the angels told S that her car would get towed where she had left it. Obviously, S didn't care, but our third angel Re'Keitha quickly stepped in and told S not to worry and that she would take her car to the hospital. She did just that and then had a co-worker bring her back to get her own car when it was all said and done.
This story has a good ending. CK was able to start breathing again with the help of oxygen soon after they arrived at the hospital. Re'Keitha arrived in the ER shortly after I arrived to check on all of us, and S attacked her with a hug as I have never seen before. Both were crying tears of joy. S turned to me and said, "This is the lady who saved CK!"
After continuous breathing treatments for three days and being well taken care of by the entire staff at Children's, CK was discharged. CK has not had any issues since this incident and is doing great. S is well but is understandably still emotional about what. All of the angels contacted the hospital and us to let us know they were thinking of us and praying for CK. There is no doubt in my mind that people are put in certain places for a reason. Re'Keitha who had been re-certified for CPR just a few days earlier, was put in a spot that no one would ever want to be put in. Her character, experience, and professionalism were on full display, and she succeeded!
S and I along with our families would like to congratulate Re'Keitha for not only all she has done for us, but also for all she has done for countless others during the course of her nursing career. We are forever grateful that our lives crossed paths when they did. Most importantly, we are grateful that she drove straight into the chaos, instead of driving away. Re'Keitha will always be CK's guardian angel.