Alberta woman among three heroes honoured in Arizona for rescuing tot from sewage tan

[spaminator]

Alberta woman among three heroes honoured in Arizona for rescuing tot from sewage tank
By Renato Gandia ,Calgary Sun
First posted: Tuesday, January 14, 2014 07:33 PM EST | Updated: Tuesday, January 14, 2014 07:41 PM EST
The life-saving act of an Alberta woman, who helped rescue a toddler who fell into a septic tank in Arizona, is being hailed as a hero.
Chelsea Cunningham of Sundre, Alta. and two others rescued Kylie Lafferty, a two-year-old girl who had plunged into a sewage tank behind the Farmer’s Market in Maricopa, AZ. on Saturday.
The drama took place as the girl chased her dog into a nearby dirt area, county officials said in a news release.
When the child stepped on the cracked cover of a septic tank, it flipped open and the child fell in, going completely under the sewage.
The child’s mother screamed for help, catching the attention of a few Good Samaritans.
Two men immediately jumped in and swam around until one felt the child’s hair.
She was pulled up and handed off to Cunningham, who performed CPR and mouth-to-mouth until the child started breathing on her own again.
It was estimated the child was under the sewage for approximately four minutes.
She was released from hospital Monday and is expected to fully recover.
All three heroes were to be honoured Tuesday by the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office with a Life-Saving Award.
Cunningham, reached by QMI Agency following the ceremony, said she didn’t think twice whether to give the girl mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
She said in a life and death situation, one’s rescue training kicks in and it doesn’t matter where the patient had been.
“She looked clean enough to me, clean enough to live,” Cunningham said. “She’s a beautiful little girl who now has another crack at growing up.”
Sundre woman Chelsea Cunningham is honoured at a Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2014 ceremony for her efforts in helping save a toddler who fell into a septic tank in Maricopa, Arizona. Photo courtesy Pinal County Sheriff's Office.

Alberta woman among three heroes honoured in Arizona for rescuing tot from sewage tank | Canada | News | Toronto Sun

 

[karrie]

I cringed reading it, but I can't fathom anyone doing anything differently.

 

[Sal]

that's heroic...good for them

 

[SLM]

I cringed reading it, but I can't fathom anyone doing anything differently.

I can't either. I think you're either a person who acts or one who doesn't. Fight or flight I guess. But if you are the kind who acts, then you just do, irrespective of the circumstances.

 

[karrie]

I wonder how the poor kid is doing. Drowning in sewage can't be good for your lungs. Well, drowning never is, but sewage... man.

 

[Sal]

I wonder how the poor kid is doing. Drowning in sewage can't be good for your lungs. Well, drowning never is, but sewage... man.

yeah the bacteria, I can't even go there

 

[damngrumpy]

Sometimes you have to go through a lot of crap to help someone.
This is a case where someone went truly above and beyond in a
life and death situation. I prefer to use the term Hero sparingly
however in this case warranted.

 

[spaminator]

the kid ended up in a s h i t load of trouble. it was a s h i t ty thing that happened.

 

[JLM]

Alberta woman among three heroes honoured in Arizona for rescuing tot from sewage tank
By Renato Gandia ,Calgary Sun
First posted: Tuesday, January 14, 2014 07:33 PM EST | Updated: Tuesday, January 14, 2014 07:41 PM EST
The life-saving act of an Alberta woman, who helped rescue a toddler who fell into a septic tank in Arizona, is being hailed as a hero.
Chelsea Cunningham of Sundre, Alta. and two others rescued Kylie Lafferty, a two-year-old girl who had plunged into a sewage tank behind the Farmer’s Market in Maricopa, AZ. on Saturday.

Alberta woman among three heroes honoured in Arizona for rescuing tot from sewage tank | Canada | News | Toronto Sun

It just doesn't get any better than that. Sometimes people do things that just puts a different light on humanity.

yeah the bacteria, I can't even go there

Small kids are tough, she'll be alright.

I can't either. I think you're either a person who acts or one who doesn't. Fight or flight I guess. But if you are the kind who acts, then you just do, irrespective of the circumstances.

Forty years ago a 10 year old boy drowned in a body of water in Montreal while dozens of people sat by and watched. They didn't want to enter the water because it might have been contaminated. Just made the wife and I sick. (How do people sleep at night after something like that?)

 

[wulfie68]

Everyone involved is very lucky.

Sewers can be ground zero for hydrogen sulfide (which is generated by the decomposition of organic waste), which if it had been present, could have killed the rescuers as well as the toddler. The oil and gas patch is filled with stories of would be rescuers who rushed in without proper equipment (breathing apparatus) and are buried alongside those they tried to get out. Thankfully it wasn't.

Whoever left the sewer like this should be held accountable to fullest extent legally possible: the negligence in leaving something like that IS criminal. Septic tanks come with concrete lids for a good reason...

 

[karrie]

Sewers can be ground zero for hydrogen sulfide (which is generated by the decomposition of organic waste), which if it had been present, could have killed the rescuers as well as the toddler. The oil and gas patch is filled with stories of would be rescuers who rushed in without proper equipment (breathing apparatus) and are buried alongside those they tried to get out. Thankfully it wasn't.

Right around the time I graduated highschool, a father and his two kids were knocked down in a root cellar. He survived after a stay in hospital, but lost his children. One by one, they kept going in to try to rescue the others.

But, H2S aside, simply being involved in a rescue at all can be risky. My grandparents lost their eight year old daughter and their best friend, when she slipped and fell into a dug-out. He jumped in after her, but the exertion, and the panic, caused a fatal heart attack.

 

[L Gilbert]

Whoever left the sewer like this should be held accountable to fullest extent legally possible: the negligence in leaving something like that IS criminal. Septic tanks come with concrete lids for a good reason...

I agree, if the proper conditions had been met, this incident wouldn't have happened.
Concrete can crack and break also, Wulfie.

 

[karrie]

I agree, if the proper conditions had been met, this incident wouldn't have happened.
Concrete can crack and break also, Wulfie.

concrete can crack and break, the fumes and weather can eat through metal lids, plastic weathers, wood rots. Maintenance is the only thing that seems to work.