(Posted Sept. 8, 2016)
By Kristy Zurbrick, Madison Editor
A routine quality control check on Sept. 1 became anything but for Daniel Craft, a Time Warner Cable technician.
The London resident was on an assignment in Galloway, completing paperwork in his vehicle, when he heard the frantic screams of a group of women outside a nearby apartment complex. He rushed across the street to see what was going on. One of the women cried that her son had stopped breathing.
Craft told the women to call 911, then ran into the apartment where he dis-covered the 5-month-old boy was turning blue and his body was becoming cold. He tried putting the baby on the floor, stretching him out, and putting his head back. When that didn’t work, he performed a finger sweep of the baby’s mouth to remove any obstacles and open his airway.
“I didn’t feel anything in there, but when I pulled my finger out, he took a big, gurgly breath and his stomach rose real high,” Craft said.
As the baby began breathing, Craft got on the phone with the 911 operator, who advised him what to watch for should other complications arise. He stayed with the infant until the emergency units arrived.
“I was scared just like everybody else was, but I knew I couldn’t get anything done being scared. So, I tried to slow everything down, keep calm and think through everything,” Craft said of the situation.
He past work and military experience came into play. As an employee of the Madison Correctional Institution in London, he had to know First Aid and CPR. He said his instinct to control the situation and instill calm came from his time as a member of the U.S. Army.
“And I have three kids of my own plus grandkids, so I’ve been around kids and a lot of it was common sense for me,” he said.
The boy was transported to Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus where doctors determined he had suffered a ruptured hernia resulting in a seizure which caused him to choke. He is back home with his family and is expected to make a full recovery.
Craft visited the boy and his mother the next day at the hospital, and he plans to visit them again at their home.
“He’s a beautiful kid. It was just a really crappy thing he went through. I don’t know, I just found that bond, I guess,” he said.
Craft is humble about the role he played in helping the boy, but paramedics and law enforcement personnel on the scene, as well as doctors at the hospital, said the boy would not have survived had it not been for Craft’s actions.
Mike Aber, Craft’s work supervisor, said he is not surprised by Craft’s bravery and his unassuming response to the role he played in saving a life.
“In addition to being a great tech, Daniel is a sincere, attentive, thorough and caring person who puts others’ needs ahead of his own,” he said.
