Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Kristen Duus | Sgt. 1st Class Lynnette Hobson-Shearwood, the platoon sergeant for the Supply Support...... read more read more
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FORT BLISS, Texas—Tragedy can strike in an instant. A momentary glance away from a child for a few seconds can lead to something disastrous. Fortunately for one east El Paso family, Sgt. 1st Class Lynnette Hobson-Shearwood was in the right place at the right time.
Hobson-Shearwood, a native of Santa Cruz, Trinidad and Tobago, and the Supply Support Activity platoon sergeant for Alpha Company, 501st Brigade Support Battalion with the “Ready First” Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, has been working late into the evenings in preparation for the unit’s rotation to the National Training Center in mid-May.
Hobson-Shearwood left work early, Wednesday, April 23, and arrived home shortly after 6:00 p.m. Instead of following her normal routine, she went straight to her backyard to water her plants.
"I heard a baby making a whimpering sound," said Hobson-Shearwood. "I didn't see an adult in the yard and I noticed a little boy in pampers and he was over the pool, pulling on something in the water. I thought it was a doll."
Fearful that the 2-year-old boy would fall in, she called out to the neighbors. No one heard her, so she jumped the fence. It was not until she approached the child that she realized it was not a doll in the water. It was a one-year-old boy submerged in the water. Only his ankle was above water.
"I came around to the pool and I could get him without jumping in," said Hobson-Shearwood. "I picked him up, put him on the side of the pool and started doing CPR on him.”
The fully-dressed child was unconscious and had already starting to turn blue when she grabbed him from the water.
"When I was doing mouth-to-mouth, all I was saying was, 'please God, don't let him die,'" said Hobson-Shearwood.
After what seemed like an eternity of performing CPR, the infant, named Troy, coughed up water.
"Once he started breathing I put him on his side in the recovery position and I went knocking on the back door to get the attention of somebody in the house," she said.
Troy’s grandmother was home, and immediately called 911. Hobson-Shearwood went back to work on the child until paramedics arrived.
"When he took his first breath, I was so glad," said Hobson-Shearwood. "He started to regain his color, and I was hoping he didn't suffer from any brain damage."
Hobson-Shearwood said that Troy’s family has visited her several times to thank her for her actions, and told her after several days in the intensive care unit, he is showing signs of a full recovery.
Hobson-Shearwood credits her quick actions on the training she has received in her 20 years in the Army. She doesn't consider herself a hero, and modestly said that anyone would do the same thing in that situation.
"It's an incredible act," said Capt. Ramses Diaz, Hobson-Shearwood's company commander. "Anyone who has kids, anyone who has been around kids, I'm sure would feel that was an act of bravery that she performed. She doesn't want to be considered a hero, and we would all like to think we'd do the same thing, but we are not all put in those situations and she was that night, and she acted in a heroic manner."
While Hobson-Shearwood downplays how heroic she may be, she couldn't emphasize enough the importance of water safety.
"I am always big on teaching children to swim," she said. "You can start to teach them to swim from three months old. I think once you have children around, you should learn CPR and basic first aid."
Troy’s family is forever grateful to her for saving the life of their child, and want to now celebrate two birthdays for him, to include the day he was brought back to life, April 22, said Hobson-Shearwood.
"Sometimes you do things you don't normally do," said Hobson-Shearwood. "I think it was an act of God that I was there in time to help him."
| Date Taken: | 04.30.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 04.30.2015 16:22 |
| Story ID: | 161818 |
| Location: | FORT BLISS, TX, US |
| Hometown: | TOBAGO, TT |
| Web Views: | 1,864 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Not a second to spare - Ready First Soldier saves drowning baby, by SFC Kristen Duus, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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