The news these days is often depressing at worst and frustrating at best. It’s easy to let it get us down. Never fear… The News Blender has you covered. Once a week we feature Something Good and, in return, all you have to do is tell us something good that has happened to you this week, something you are thankful for, a joke, a cute animal story, an inspiring tale of heroics, a Random Act of Kindness… SOMETHING good.
Today’s something good is the gift of life.
Maggie O’Rourke, ICU nurse and mom of a toddler, was nervous with her toddler staying with her parents, so she gifted them a LifeVac anti-choking device for Christmas. It is an easy-to-use device that is a mask with a plunger that creates suction to pull a blockage out of the airway. She told NBC Boston that she expected to be teased about the gift and she was.
Christine, Maggie’s mom, said, “We’re like, ‘Oh, Maggie, you’re just such a nervous first-time mother.'”
But the LifeVac would soon be put to use and save the life of not Maggie’s baby, but her own father.
The day after Christmas, Christine and Maggie’s dad, Bill, were eating turkey leftovers when Bill became distressed and couldn’t speak. He stood up and collapsed in the kitchen. Christine said, “His color was not good, and of course, I immediately panicked. I am a nurse practitioner, so I’m trained in CPR, but when it’s your own family member, it’s a different story.”
She called 911 and tried abdominal thrusts to clear his airway but it didn’t work. It was then she remembered Maggie’s gift, sitting under the Christmas tree.
She tried the device once and it didn’t work, but the second try actually suctioned the food out of Bill’s airway and he started breathing.
“Within seconds — it seemed like forever — he took a breath. And I just couldn’t believe it,” she said.
When her brother called Maggie to tell her what had happened, how the gift she gave saved her father’s life, she was in shock as well. “He kept saying, ‘Maggie, Mom used the device you got,’ and I was like, ‘What are you talking about?’ When he said the LifeVac I was like ‘Oh my god,’ I couldn’t believe it,” Maggie said.
Upon contacting LifeVac with their story, the company offered to match purchases of the device and the family decided to do some good with their close call.
Bill and Christine have donated more than 200 LifeVac devices to the Lowell school system, where Bill teaches, and to emergency responders. Now every school in Lowell has at least two of the life saving devices.
“I see these kids every day in the cafeteria, eating their lunches, and it’s not just the kids, it’s also the teachers, the cafeteria workers, it’s everybody. If it happened to me, it can happen to anybody,” said Bill.
“The reality is if Chrissy didn’t go get that device, I would be dead, and there’s no question around that,” he said. “I’m just happy that we’ve been able to help out in some way.”
While Bill and Christine are on a mission to donate as many of the kits as possible, Maggie, obviously a big proponent of the device, is taking a different approach. She’s collaborating with a state representative on a bill that would allow them to be available in schools across the state.
“It’s pretty easy to use, it comes with two masks — an adult mask and a pediatric mask — and it works like a plunger, you just pop it right on,” Maggie said. “You place it, you press, and you pull, and it makes a big suction. It’s simple, super simple. It should be used after basic life support, so you should attempt the Heimlich, you should attempt CPR if needed, and then this is like the ‘Hail Mary,’ use this if all else fails.”
A little caution can be a good thing. Now it’s your turn… tell me something good!
