The Nurse and the Batboy

As Penny Brown got out of bed to get ready for work that day, if someone had told her what was about to happen, and the incredible chain of events it would set in motion, she would not have believed it.

Keep in mind, what I am about to tell you is true.

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In 1999, Penny Brown was a New York nurse.  Though she liked her job, that day she was disappointed because she had to go in to work.  Her son was scheduled to play in a Little League game that day and she was going to have to miss it.

She really wanted to go to her son’s game so, just in case, she called work and asked if there was any way she could get some time off.  As luck would have it, that shift there were going to be enough medical personnel so that they would be able to get by without Penny.

She was relieved and happy and, instead of her nursing scrubs she dressed in street clothes and headed off to the baseball field.

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At the Little League field Penny talked to other parents as she took her place in the bleachers.  The game got underway and she waited for her son’s turn at bat.

On the field, ten-year-old batboy Kevin Stephen hustled around, chasing down stray balls, picking up bats, and running any errands the coach asked him to.

One of the athletes stepped out of the dugout and strode to the on-deck circle to begin his warm-up.  He selected his preferred bat and started swinging to loosen his muscles.  As boys his age do, I’m sure he fantasized about connecting with the ball and blasting it over the fence.  He would have swung the bat hard, thinking of connecting for a round-tripper.

Kevin Stephen, as ten-year-olds tend to be, was so intent on his work as batboy that he didn’t pay as much attention to his immediate surroundings as perhaps he should.  As he fired out of the dugout to do his job, he ran just a little too close to the warm-up ring…just as the on-deck batter swung for the fence.

The bat caught little Kevin in the chest and he collapsed to the ground.  The impact of the bat had disrupted the electrical signals from his brain to his heart…the ones that told his heart to beat.  Kevin’s heart stopped pumping.

At only ten, Kevin would be dead within seconds…

…if not for Penny.

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Penny may have been off from work that day, but her nurse’s mind was busy.  She saw the boy fall and jumped into action.  When she got to the still body she took stock of the situation and instantly realized how serious it was.

The nurse began to administer CPR (Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation).  Fans in the bleachers cried and prayed as they grasped the seriousness of the boy’s condition, but Penny was too busy to think of anything except 30 chest compressions, two rescue breaths, 30 chest compressions, at the equivalent of 100-120 compressions per minute.

But she did have time to plead as she administered the chest compressions, “Breathe, Kevin, breathe!”

Suddenly the little body moved.  Kevin began to cry, which was one of the best sounds Penny had ever heard.  Crying meant the boy was breathing.  Breathing meant that his heart was beating.

Kevin was alive!

The ambulance arrived and the boy was rushed to the hospital where he made a complete recovery.

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As he grew up, Kevin’s life continued to be shaped by that fateful day in the Little League field.  He joined the Boy Scouts where he studied first aid and other life-saving skills.  He realized that he wanted to help others and took training to become a volunteer firefighter.  That training added even more to his life-saving knowledge.

Seven years after his life was saved by Penny Brown, then seventeen-year-old Kevin took a job as a dishwasher at a restaurant in Depew, New York.  One night he was busy scrubbing dishes when he heard someone in the dining room yell out.  One of the customers was having a medical emergency.  She was choking on her food.

His first aid skills leaped to his mind as Kevin dashed out of the kitchen. 

The woman was clearly not breathing.  If somebody didn’t do something immediately, the lady was going to die.

Kevin knew that he was that somebody…and he knew what had to be done.

The young dishwasher ran around behind the woman and wrapped his arms around her, grasping his hands in a knot under her sternum.  He tightened his back into an arch and, with a jerk, yanked her off her feet. 

The Heimlich Maneuver.

With surprising force the woman ejected the food that was blocking her windpipe.  She gasped for breath as the young man helped her sit down.  Kevin knelt in front of her to offer comfort and make sure she didn’t choke again during her recovery.

The young dishwasher was pleased that he had been able to save the choking victim and shrugged off the cheers and back-slaps of customers.  One question was on his mind.

Why did this woman look so familiar?

It was Penny Brown. 

Seven years after nurse Penny Brown had saved a dying young batboy named Kevin Stephen by administering CPR, the boy had returned the favor by performing the Heimlich maneuver on her.

What are the odds?

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Addendum – I strongly recommend that everyone take at least a basic first aid course.  Boy scouts, girl scouts, many churches, and lots of employers offer first aid training.  If none of those will work for you, find the nearest Red Cross office and give them a call or reach out to them online.  They offer first aid courses free of charge.

I have received first aid training on various levels in boy scouts, at church, in the Marine Corps, and at my job.  I have also been trained by Red Cross and am qualified to teach first aid/CPR.  My training has come in handy many times and I have used it to help people who were injured, made them more comfortable, and even saved a life or two.

Heck, I’ve even used my first aid training on myself a few times.

I promise you, if you take the little bit of time it takes to attend even the very short basic course, you won’t regret it.  If you learn first aid, chances are good that you’ll use it, either to help yourself or someone else.

Your other option is not to take the course, but, at some point, you’ll probably wish you had.

Just sayin’.

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