David Ludgate
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| David Ludgate (Belleville, IL) received the Red Cross Lifesaver Award for saving his neighbor’s daughter after she nearly drowned in a backyard pool. Through the Red Cross Lifesaver Awards, sponsored by AAA, the Red Cross has celebrated more than 400 local citizens who were able to save a life. Pictured from left to right: Mary Jo Blackwood (Board Member, American Red Cross), David Ludgate, and Cindy Erickson (CEO, American Red Cross). |
In July 2009, David Ludgate (Belleville, IL) was taking advantage of the warm sunny weather to work on his boat in his backyard. Meanwhile, his neighbors—the McCords—were watching their kids play in a backyard pool.
The McCords turned away from the pool for only a minute, when the unthinkable happened: their 14-month old daughter Kylie began floating face down in the water.
It is a parent’s worst nightmare: seeing your child lifeless and not knowing how to help. David says he could hear some screaming over the fence, and within seconds, the McCords were in his backyard, holding Kylie’s limp body and begging for help.
Now David has never taken a formal CPR or First Aid course. But he felt he had to do something, and tried to remember what he had seen on TV shows and the movies. He laid Kylie down in the boat, tilted her head back, and pinched her nose before giving her a rescue breath. A couple more breaths, and Kylie was coughing up water.
Within minutes, police and paramedics had arrived to take Kylie to the hospital, where she was treated and released in good shape.
David says he now knows why it is so important for people to get trained in CPR and First Aid, because you simply never know when you might be asked to used those skills.
To sign up for a First Aid or CPR Class, click here.