U.S. Rep. Andy Harris, a Maryland Republican and a medical doctor by profession, helped save a 2-year-old boy who had stopped breathing along Route 50 in Talbot County, the legislator and the boy’s parents confirmed Tuesday.
The incident occurred Aug. 26, as strong thunderstorms flooded many parts of Maryland, causing Harris to take a detour that put him near Brian and Jess Smith and their two young sons.
“It was just a miracle,” said Charles Jones, the boy’s maternal grandfather, who publicly thanked Harris on the legislator’s Facebook page.
The Smiths, who live in Somerset County, were driving home with Nathan, 27 months, and Parker, 8 months, when Jess Smith turned around and noticed Nathan was blue.
“It was the most terrifying thing I ever had to go through,” she said.
The couple stopped, thinking Nathan was choking. Brian Smith, a volunteer firefighter, held his son upside down and searched his airway, but couldn’t find anything.
Soon, Harris and his family were driving northbound when he saw three cars on the other side of the road with their doors open.
Harris said he turned the boy on his side and loosened his jaw to open his airway. At that point, the boy gasped, he said.
Doctors told the family Nathan had a viral infection that caused the rapid onset of a fever, which caused the boy to stop breathing. But with medical care, Nathan was soon better.
— The Baltimore Sun
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