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Patients at one area healthcare facility can take solace in the fact that while they are convalescing one of those charged with helping them during their stay is a hero.
An honest-to-goodness Good Samaritan who values life and was recently recognized by the American Red Cross of Greater Arkansas and Verizon for her efforts in helping save the life of an infant in 2008.
Pamela Harris, a C.N.A. at Lindley Health & Rehab Center in Newport, was honored as a 2009 Arkansas Hero at a recent luncheon at the DoubleTree Hotel in Little Rock.
Harris, who lives in Alicia and was working in Jonesboro in February 2008 had her act of bravery - and those of many others - recounted in Firehouse Magazine by Egypt Mayor Don Scruggs, which led to her selection.
According to Scruggs's description of the events, at 2:48 p.m. an emergency call was sent over the scanner asking for help at the Cache River Bridge on Highway 230 where it had been reported that a car was in the river with a woman and baby inside.
Scruggs, who served 10 years on the Jonesboro Fire Department, responded to the scene as did several others who were desperately trying to extricate the infant in the overturned vehicle.
"The temperature was around 35 degrees and the wind was really blowing, about 15 to 20 m.p.h.," Scruggs wrote. "I saw a car, a four-door Toyota, off the road upside down in the ditch full of water. Only the bottom half of the tires and the very bottom side of the car were out of the water."
Arkansas State Police Corporal Doug Thomas and several area men were already on hand and had tried unsuccessfully to free "Baby Grace."
Three men managed to pick the car which was sitting nose down in the mud up and rolled it over on its wheels in the water with the aid of Trooper Thomas.
After righting the car, Scruggs managed to reach through the back of the car where the back glass had been broken out and cut the infant out of its car seat.
"I grabbed her arm with my right hand, got my other hand under her to support her neck, turned around and slid off the trunk of the car," said Scruggs.
"As I slid off the car and started up the bank, I turned the baby around to look at her. She was a beautiful chubby faced little girl, but she was unconscious and she was not breathing. Her big brown eyes were wide open. The panic that this poor child had face just minutes before was still showing on her face."
After the baby was passed to the top of the bridge, Christian Emerson - an Ultrasound Technician at St. Bernard's Hospital - and Harris began doing CPR on "Baby Grace."
"By the time I got over to where Christian and Pamela were doing CPR on the baby, it was spitting up water and what looked like formula. I think it was the prettiest sight I ever saw," Scruggs noted.
"These two women did an excellent job for that child. I thank God that they were there."
The ambulance then took the child to St. Bernard's Hospital in Jonesboro where she was airlifted to Arkansas Children's Hospital in Little Rock. Doctors initially gave her a 30 percent chance of surviving the first 72 hours. She has survived and is still getting better and stronger every day, according to Scruggs.
"She is now off the critical list and is expected to make a full recovery. Her MRI and CAT scans show no brain damage, probably due to the very cold water and the limited time that she was in the water.
Scruggs attached a hand-written note to the copy of his letter to Harris. It reads simply:
Pamela,
I think God works through some people here on Earth, and I think he worked through you to save Gracie. You were one of her "Guardian Angels" that day. Thank you for being kind enough and human enough to stop and help.
Don Scruggs
For Harris she seems to see the event as rather matter-of-factly.
When asked why she helped, her answer was simple: "Because I knew that someone needed my help."
She admits that she was nervous but soon her training took over.
"I tell everyone that I was very nervous when I started helping do CPR but it made me feel good that the baby survived."
After time has passed and she has had time to reflect on that day, her thoughts remain one of human kindness.
"I'm very happy that both the baby and the mother are doing good," Harris said, "and that the baby has no brain damage."
Patients at one area healthcare facility can take solace in the fact that while they are convalescing one of those charged with helping them during their stay is a hero.
An honest-to-goodness Good Samaritan who values life and was recently recognized by the American Red Cross of Greater Arkansas and Verizon for her efforts in helping save the life of an infant in 2008.
Pamela Harris, a C.N.A. at Lindley Health & Rehab Center in Newport, was honored as a 2009 Arkansas Hero at a recent luncheon at the DoubleTree Hotel in Little Rock.
Harris, who lives in Alicia and was working in Jonesboro in February 2008 had her act of bravery - and those of many others - recounted in Firehouse Magazine by Egypt Mayor Don Scruggs, which led to her selection.
According to Scruggs's description of the events, at 2:48 p.m. an emergency call was sent over the scanner asking for help at the Cache River Bridge on Highway 230 where it had been reported that a car was in the river with a woman and baby inside.
Scruggs, who served 10 years on the Jonesboro Fire Department, responded to the scene as did several others who were desperately trying to extricate the infant in the overturned vehicle.
"The temperature was around 35 degrees and the wind was really blowing, about 15 to 20 m.p.h.," Scruggs wrote. "I saw a car, a four-door Toyota, off the road upside down in the ditch full of water. Only the bottom half of the tires and the very bottom side of the car were out of the water."
Arkansas State Police Corporal Doug Thomas and several area men were already on hand and had tried unsuccessfully to free "Baby Grace."
Three men managed to pick the car which was sitting nose down in the mud up and rolled it over on its wheels in the water with the aid of Trooper Thomas.
After righting the car, Scruggs managed to reach through the back of the car where the back glass had been broken out and cut the infant out of its car seat.
"I grabbed her arm with my right hand, got my other hand under her to support her neck, turned around and slid off the trunk of the car," said Scruggs.
"As I slid off the car and started up the bank, I turned the baby around to look at her. She was a beautiful chubby faced little girl, but she was unconscious and she was not breathing. Her big brown eyes were wide open. The panic that this poor child had face just minutes before was still showing on her face."
After the baby was passed to the top of the bridge, Christian Emerson - an Ultrasound Technician at St. Bernard's Hospital - and Harris began doing CPR on "Baby Grace."
"By the time I got over to where Christian and Pamela were doing CPR on the baby, it was spitting up water and what looked like formula. I think it was the prettiest sight I ever saw," Scruggs noted.
"These two women did an excellent job for that child. I thank God that they were there."
The ambulance then took the child to St. Bernard's Hospital in Jonesboro where she was airlifted to Arkansas Children's Hospital in Little Rock. Doctors initially gave her a 30 percent chance of surviving the first 72 hours. She has survived and is still getting better and stronger every day, according to Scruggs.
"She is now off the critical list and is expected to make a full recovery. Her MRI and CAT scans show no brain damage, probably due to the very cold water and the limited time that she was in the water.
Scruggs attached a hand-written note to the copy of his letter to Harris. It reads simply:
Pamela,
I think God works through some people here on Earth, and I think he worked through you to save Gracie. You were one of her "Guardian Angels" that day. Thank you for being kind enough and human enough to stop and help.
Don Scruggs
For Harris she seems to see the event as rather matter-of-factly.
When asked why she helped, her answer was simple: "Because I knew that someone needed my help."
She admits that she was nervous but soon her training took over.
"I tell everyone that I was very nervous when I started helping do CPR but it made me feel good that the baby survived."
After time has passed and she has had time to reflect on that day, her thoughts remain one of human kindness.
"I'm very happy that both the baby and the mother are doing good," Harris said, "and that the baby has no brain damage."
