Herb’s Blog, Herbdate 23233 – 1158
Here’s the haps:
Daughter TNT sent me a link to this story thinking it would make for a good addition to this series and I think so, too. This is the kind of story I like because not only does it show someone trying to do the right thing but I also picked up some new personal knowledge which I will share in a moment.
Behavioral Therapist Jason Piquette has been working with 12-year-old Austen McMillen for over 3 years. He’s considered part of the family so it was not unusual for him to be at the house swimming with Austen while the parents ran errands. They were having a contest to see who could hold their breath the longest using Jason’s phone for a timer but after about 5 minutes, Austen knew something was wrong. He swam out to his friend and pulled him into the shallow end of the pool where he could get his head out of the water. Unable to dial 911 or use the emergency call button on the phone because of a cracked screen, he ran out to the street yelling for help but nobody was around so he ran back to his friend and started doing CPR on him. He had never had any formal training but he had seen it done one time on the show, “Stranger Things” and imitated what he had seen, performing chest compressions. All the while screaming at the top of his voice for him to wake up.
You can see in the video that Jason begins to regain consciousness before the dad drops his groceries and rushes into the house to see what’s the matter and calls 911. Jason was admitted to the ICU on 100% oxygen and recovered and Austen is, in my (and most other people’s) opinion a hero. Later Jason said that he didn’t know why but he blacked out after what he thought was about thirty seconds. I was interested as to why this happened as well and that’s how I learned about
Hypoxic Blackout
Also called Apneic Blackout or Shallow Water Blackout. Normally when you hold your breath your oxygen begins to go down and your carbon dioxide goes up. When it reaches a certain level, no matter how hard you try not to, your brain forces you to take a breath. What can happen when a person hyperventilates just before holding their breath is they get a lot of oxygen in their system all at once. Then this warning switch is turned off and traded for a euphoric feeling similar to a “runner’s high” just before they blackout and drown.
Austen’s mom held a small gathering of friends and family and had a trainer come to her house and teach everybody CPR.
The best story I found about this was “Watch ‘hero’ 12-year-old Florida boy save drowning man after learning CPR from TV show” on USA Today website.
Detailed information about Shallow Water Blackout and prevention tips can be found at UNDERWATER HYPOXIC PREVENTION
The story including the video footage:
Comments
12 responses to “12 Year Old Saves Drowning Man From Hypoxic Blackout – Nice On The Net Saturday”
That gives me chills.
I agree. I think I had heard of this kind of thing but I don’t think I fully understood.
Jacqui said it all, Herb!!
I agree. I wasn’t really very aware of this even existing but after looking around, apparently it does.
Wow, so lucky this young boy was not afraid instead sprung into action to try and save the man.
It is impressive, for sure.
I can tell that you genuinely care about your readers. Your helpful tips are much appreciated.
Thank you.
We will not hold underwater breath-holding competitions anytime soon. Thanks for the heads up, Herb.
You’re welcome. I had never heard of this before.
Wow, an excellent jump into action.
I am embarrassed to confess that I misread your headline at first, and thought the piece was about 12 year old slaves drowning a man. Your actual version is far more uplifting than people being drowned by 12 year old slaves.
😲😂🤣