Our Story
Accident
On June 24th 2017, our daughter, Mali, suffered a tragic water accident while in Chicago for the weekend. She was 5 years old, a strong swimmer, and was confident and comfortable around water. On this day, she was swimming in the 3ft shallow end of a still pool and experienced a near drowning accident. We don’t know how long she had been under water. Her 11 year old brother and friend discovered her first. They noticed she was no longer swimming. Her dad, Tim, was at the poolside tending to our 10 year old at the time. A couple other adults were sitting by the pool as well, enjoying the sun peacefully, but the accident was so silent no one noticed Mali floating motionlessly.
Action
Immediately after our son noticed his sister in the pool, he pulled her over to the side trying to sit her up on the edge of the pool a couple times, but she kept falling back in. Realizing she was in the worst possible condition, he jumped out of the pool and ran to dad for help. When Tim pulled her out, she was found unresponsive and blue. He was yelling for help. One of the ladies, woke up to the commotion, immediately ran over to Mali, and directed another lady to call 911 and to tell the doorman to keep the elevator open for paramedics. She started CPR on Mali right away. It was almost 5 minutes before Mali finally coughed and regained consciousness. Tim watched as a stranger helped give life back to our daughter. The fire department and paramedics arrived shortly after and took her to Lurie Children’s Hospital where she received medical attention and fully recovered under their care.
Outcome
Our strong beautiful girl was in critical condition while at Lurie. My “A Team” at Lurie Children’s Hospital, worked around the clock the second we stepped off the ambulance. It took 14 excruciating hours to stabilize her and a roller coaster of medical events in the weeks following, before we felt comfortable she was 100% recovered.
Impact
The doctors believe that if she didn’t receive CPR, her chances for survival and 100% recovery would not have been possible. CPR performed immediately on site allowed the doctors, nurses, and staff at Lurie the opportunity to give her the utmost medical attention needed. After this experience we started looking for ways to understand how we could give back and help our community and/or hospitals. We contacted Memorial Children’s Hospital to learn more about their facility. Following our tour of the PICU at Memorial Children’s Hospital and meeting with the Nurse Manager, we were pleased to see what an asset we have in our community. It is an amazing facility and well-equipped. The Nurse Manager shared what we are lacking is CPR Awareness. In a situation like Mali’s, many children did not have the opportunity to receive medical attention by the time they arrived at the hospital because CPR was not performed in time or at all. It finally resonated why our daughter had a chance for outstanding medical care and a full recovery. Her miraculous outcome and recovery started with Mary O’Connell and CPR. Mary O’Connell, a flight attendant for American Airlines, had never performed CPR in the 33 years she has been a stewardess. She happened to be at the poolside that day and acted quickly by directing others and performing CPR immediately. She is forever our angel. Mary’s
quick actions and her will to not give up is truly admirable. Not once in the 5 minutes of performing CPR did she stop out of fear, loss of hope, or exhaustion. She has been an inspiration for us.
Response
Our son who was in the pool at the time of the accident, had a natural response to help his sister. We couldn’t be more proud of him for Taking Action the best he knew how. He hadn’t been given the tools and knowledge of recognizing the distress, but we’ve learned that it’s never too young to Take Action.
Through our family experience, we know CPR is crucial. CPR shouldn’t just be performed by a healthcare provider. CPR should be a life skill. Tim is now a CPR instructor. Apple & the 3 boys are CPR certified, and Mali…well…she’s raising her hand shouting “I want to do CPR”. I’m so happy for her enthusiasm. By bringing CPR awareness, education, and training, we hope to empower both children and adults in our community to Be Informed and Choose Action.
Three months after we came home from Lurie, our 10 year old (at the time), choked in a restaurant. Complete blockage of airway. Another silent accident. While eating, we happened to make eye contact but could not tell he was in distress. As we continued to stare at one another and he did not respond to a couple questions, we began to think there might be something wrong. Tim quickly ran around the table and performed the heimlich, a part of the CPR education and training, and was able to dislodge the food after several attempts. So thankful he had recently become CPR certified. We noticed the discomfort and unease from the people around us as they didn’t know how to react or help. Opposite end of spectrum from Mali’s accident in Chicago. There were 5x more people at the restaurant than at the pool. No one around us felt confident or comfortable to respond in this emergency situation. Another reason why empowering people with confidence to Choose Action is necessary.
Our program provides a more convenient way to get certified. We are willing to bring the assessment testing to you.
Our Name
Trauma “A” patients at Lurie Children’s Hospital are given an alias to protect their patients from media or others not related. Caribou Trauma was Mali’s alias until she left the hospital. Now we’d like to think of it as Caribou Life.