Teen paramedic performs CPR to save 5-year-old girl pulled from the water
A teen who had recently trained to become an EMT is being hailed a hero after she performed CPR on a 5-year-old girl who was pulled from Lake Michigan unresponsive.
Kianti Champion was at Rainbow Beach in Chicago celebrating her sister’s birthday when she heard screaming, according to Fox 32. The 19-year-old told CBS Chicago that at first, she thought the sound was “just kids screaming at the beach,” she said.
But then she saw the girl on the ground with her mother screaming at her feet, and Champion knew what she had to do.
“I told my mom, ‘Hey mom, someone needs help, we need to go,’” said Champion. She ran over and announced, “I’m going to start compressions because that’s what I know to do.”
Champion’s mother, Ebony Walton, who is a nurse, made sure her daughter didn’t get distracted or intimidated by the large crowd that was forming. “My mom said, ‘Do not stop,’” Champion recalled.
Luckily, CPR training was still fresh in the teen’s mind from her recent training at Black Fire Brigade, an organization that trains youths for careers as paramedics and firefighters.
“One of the reasons we started this, the Black Fire Brigade, is to reduce the violence in the community,” said Black Fire Brigade President Quention Curtis to Fox 32. “So our motto is: If you teach a kid to save a life, they'll be less likely to take a life.”
Black Fire Brigade is only a year old, but the nonprofit has reportedly already trained 150 kids — 25 who are single mothers and two who are homeless, according to CBS Chicago.
Champion said she kept doing compressions until paramedics arrived. The first responders rushed the girl to Comer Children’s Hospital, where she reportedly remains in critical condition.
There are no lifeguards on duty at Rainbow Beach past 7 p.m., according to the Chicago Park District, and beachgoers are not supposed to be swimming past that hour, as indicated by red flags and signs. An investigation is underway as to how the girl got into the water.
Walton told ABC 7 she’s in awe of her daughter’s accomplishment. “To have your 19-year-old be your hero is an awesome feeling," she said.
Champion can’t get her mind off of the girl. "That's all I've been thinking about is her,” she said. “I've been hoping. I've just been praying. I hope she's OK.”
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