BARNSTABLE, Mass. (WHDH) — A 19-year-old lifeguard in Barnstable jumped into action Tuesday to save the life of a young child who had stopped breathing.
Jake Avery, a 19-year-old sophomore at Brandeis, was working at Craigsville Beach when he said a panicked father ran up to his lifeguard stand. He told Avery that his 14-month-old had stopped breathing after choking on a piece of watermelon.
“I didn’t have plenty of time to think, it was just an immediate reaction. I knew if I had wasted any time, things might not have gone the way they did,” said Avery.
Avery said he performed the Heimlich Maneuver several times on the child until he spit the watermelon out and started crying. The 14-month-old was then taken to the hospital as a precaution.
(Copyright (c) 2024 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)