Family thankful for child’s rescue
Published: August 4, 2006
Saturday, the Landy family of Mansfield made a special visit to the Mansfield Fire Station on North Main Street to thank five firefighters, who Angel Landy credits with saving her son, Michael’s, life.
“My son was basically brought (to consciousness) back by paramedics,” said Angel Landy, whose 20-month-old son Michael fell into a pool at her Northridge Road residence July 15.
On that day, Michael was being watched by Landy’s sister-in-law, who lost track of Michael when he fell in the water and landed at the bottom of the pool.
Responding from the fire department were Mark Copithorne, Keith Thomas, Mike Devine, Robert Merritt and Bruce Bassard, who Landy said were on scene within minutes to perform CPR.
To thank the five paramedics, Landy, along with her husband and three children, came into the North Main Street Mansfield Fire Station July 29 to meet the paramedics and give them baked goods.
“I think they really deserve it,” said Landy. “So we baked some stuff for them and we really wanted to thank them.”
Landy said paramedics who responded were able to revive her son using cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and eventually transport him to Sturdy Memorial Hospital with a chance for a full recovery.
“Right after my (sister-in-law) noticed (where Michael was), she called 911 and she called me,” said Landy, who works for the YMCA and is trained in (CPR). “I came right away and (Michael) was blue. I (performed CPR), I don’t know how many compressions I did. It was all a blur. Then the police came first and then the paramedics.”
According to the Mansfield police log, the department was notified of the emergency at 9:09 a.m. and police officers Richard Coughlin, Dave Kinahan and John Armstrong arrived at the scene at 9:15 a.m. They were followed by the fire department.
“I was the first (from the fire department) on scene,” said Copithorne. “We continued CPR on the child and we were bagging the child (for oxygen) to try and get pulses back. Eventually we got pulses back, but his heart rate was about 50, and at his age he should have about a 120 heart rate, so we used three shots of epinephrine.”
Copithorne said Michael Landy was unconscious throughout the entire process and was later transported to Sturdy Memorial Hospital, where he was aided by a special team from Hasbro Children’s Hospital. Landy was then transported to Hasbro, in Providence, R.I. where he spent a week in intensive care.
“It was pretty sketchy but doctors say (Michael Landy) was not breathing for about five minutes,” said Copithorne. “Now thankfully he seems to be fine and doctors say there may not be much or any neural damage from being unconscious for so long.”
Copithorne said he visited the Landy family at their home on his own later in the day on (July 15) and met with Michael, who Copithorne reported to be healthy.
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