Airman performs CPR, saves toddler

  • Published
  • By Verla Davis
  • 48th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
ROYAL AIR FORCE LAKENHEATH, England (AFPN) --  Most people don’t remember what they were doing Jan. 23, but for the Clemsic family the date is one they said they will never forget. It was on this day that 23-month old Jason Clemsic nearly drowned in an icy pond behind the family’s off-base home.

The boy’s mother, Tech. Sgt. Carmen Clemsic of the 48th Fighter Wing, took a deep breath as she recounted the events of that day. She was showing another military couple around their house.

“As we walked downstairs, I noticed the back door open [which is usually locked]. I thought, ‘oh no.’ When I looked out, I saw my daughter walking up the sidewalk. She had no shoes on. I asked her what was she doing and went to pick her up. That’s when I saw him in the pond,” she said.

Sergeant Clemsic jumped in the pond and grabbed her son. Because the pond was full of slippery leaves and other debris, it was difficult for her to quickly get him out, she said.

Hearing her screams, Staff Sgts. Brian and Melissa Hammond of the 48th Communications Squadron and 48th FW respectively, came running out of the house. Brian reached in and took hold of the child by the shirt and pulled him out. He began CPR while his wife called the paramedics.

“I laid him on the side of the water and started checking him. He wasn’t breathing in the beginning … at all,” Brian said. “I couldn’t tell if he had a heartbeat because the water was so cold. With grabbing him out and being outside in the cold, I didn’t have a jacket or anything on. I’d started shivering. So I don’t know if he had a pulse or not.”

He began giving the boy his first breaths and continued until the toddler began to respond by coughing and expelling the water he had swallowed. Then Brian picked the boy up and took him in the house and began treating him for shock.

“He had already started taking breaths in. They were a little shallow, but he was breathing on his own,” he said.

By this time the paramedics were on the way and were fully aware of the situation.

At the nearby civilian hospital, doctors discovered Jason had a collapsed lung and had to be put on a ventilator. He had been admitted to the emergency room the day before with the croup and already had problems breathing.

Soon, he was moved to a regional hospital where Sergeant Clemsic was told that Jason's condition would get worse before it got better because of the amount of bacteria in the water he swallowed. Jason was placed in a medically induced coma for a week to make sure his throat didn’t swell closed when the tubes were removed.

While holding on to some shred of hope, Sergeant Clemsic said she received tons of support from her Air Force family.

“I just can’t say enough. Sometimes people make light of phrases like 'the military family' and things, but they really work,” she said. “You get these people who came out and (did whatever they could) to help us. I really get choked up when I think about it. God, it meant so much.”

Sergeant Clemsic said she is grateful for the self-aid and buddy care system and all the training that she has received to prepare her for times like these.

“As much as I knew what I needed to do, it was so nice that Brian was there. I was able to be the hysterical mom,” she said.

Jason was out of the hospital within two weeks, and he has made a full recovery. Sergeant Clemsic said he is back to fighting with his 3-year-old sister, Kamryn, and pulling her hair. He turned 2 years old March 6.

Brian said he doesn’t think of himself as a hero.

Sergeant Clemsic and her husband, Tech. Sgt. Jason Clemsic of the 48th Communications Squadron, see it differently.

“He’s my angel,” she said. (Courtesy of U.S. Air Forces in Europe News Service)