MICHAEL STAPLES
staples.michael@dailygleaner.com
Published Monday June 18th, 2007
Appeared on page A1
http://www.canadaeast.com/ce2/docroot/article.php?articleID=14038
A medical first-aid course taken by a member of the 403 Helicopter Squadron at Canadian Forces Base Gagetown has proven to be a lifesaver for an Oromocto-area teenager.
Dakota Smith, 14, started convulsing April 22 while spending some time with friends at a park near Assiniboine Avenue Elementary School in Oromocto.
Things went bad in a hurry, but then Ed Thorold came to the rescue.
Thorold was enjoying Sunday afternoon at home when the quietness was interrupted by kids screaming that Smith was having a seizure.
"He was on the playground, unconscious and not breathing," Thorold said. "I did CPR on him and he responded."
The kids who were present -- including his stepdaughter Chelsi Fanjoy, 14, and his daughter Tristen Thorold, 10 -- were able to alert emergency officials with a cellphone.
"I don't know how long he (Dakota) had been out," Thorold said. "He responded quickly. I was surprised. Shortly after that, police and ambulance arrived."
Thorold said Smith is always at his house and is like one of his own kids.
But that probably made it all the more scarier when he was trying to save his life, he said.
"It feels great. I have seen a lot of suffering, being in the military. This was one of the highlights of my career, being able to save a life. The doctor said timing was very important."
Smith said all he remembers from that day is having a headache, feeling sick and seeing colours.
"It was like I just went from there to being half-naked in the hospital," Smith said. "I can't remember anything else."
Smith said he has known Thorold for a long time and is grateful for what he did.
"I have talked to him a little and am grateful, but don't know what to say," Smith said.
Aside from being a bit mixed up the first week or two after regaining consciousness, Smith said, he feels normal now.
Jennifer Smith, the teen's mother, said her son is now "pretty much OK" and does not have any permanent brain damage.
Smith said her son, who had choked on his own vomit during the worst of the seizures, was first taken to the Oromocto Public Hospital. He continued to have seizures, so officials transferred him to Fredericton.
"It took six hours to stabilize him, and he was paralyzed completely and on life support for almost a day before we knew if he would live or have brain damage of any kind," Smith said. "It was a terrifying and horrible 24 hours."
She said she cannot heap enough praise on Thorold.
"Ed saved his life," Smith said. "He literally breathed life right back into his lungs. He probably, at least, would have had brain damage.
"If it had not have been for Ed, he probably wouldn't have survived, either. Him being in the (military) and having the skills that he did and first-aid training made the difference. I just think he is a hero."
Despite a multitude of tests, medical officials have not been able to discover a medical condition that caused Dakota Smith to go into convulsions.
Instead, the family doctor thinks the conditions were just right: he had a bad headache, it was hot, and he was overtired and hungry.
