BRICK – After sharing a terrifying experience earlier this month, a local family and officers were reunited.
Melissa and Ryan Travers experienced what no parent ever wants to go through, when a routine bath time with their son Bruce became a life or death scenario.
On June 9, Brick officers responded to the Travers’ residence on 20th Avenue after receiving a dreaded call for response: a 21-month old child was choking and stopped breathing.
Melissa and Ryan were giving their two children a bath when one child, 21-month old Bruce, vomited and started choking. Ryan started giving Bruce back blows to help stop Bruce from choking and the parents called 911. Less than three minutes after the call, help arrived. Melissa carried her son downstairs and out the front door to meet emergency personnel. On the way, Bruce began to go limp and Melissa began CPR.
“Officer Tyler Stephenson was the first to get to Bruce and immediately administered a series of stiff back blows that completely dislodged the obstruction. However, due to the amount of material Bruce had vomited, his airway was still obstructed. That’s when Officer Kevin Docherty began using his fingers to sweep the vomitus and regurgitated food out of Bruce’s mouth,” Brick Police stated.
The officer continued their life-saving efforts until EMTs arrived on the scene. By the time EMTs got there, Bruce was able to breathe shallow breaths and was quite lethargic.
The EMTs transported Bruce to the hospital where he spent a few days recovering before leaving for home with a clean bill of health.
On June 20, Officers Stephenson and Docherty were reunited with the Travers family and they shared hugs and thanks.
According to Melissa, she and Ryan shared “the most frightening moment of our entire life,” with these officers. Officer Stephenson echoed her sentiments, calling it the most frightening moment of his life too.
“It’s comforting to know that you guys are always there for situations like this,” said Ryan, “we’re just so grateful.”
If it weren’t for Melissa’s background as a nurse and the rapid response time of the officers, the situation might have been much worse.
