MANCHESTER, Md. — She shies away from the limelight, but three-year-old Mariana Tapia-Garcia returned to the Manchester Volunteer Fire Department on her own power a few weeks after she came here near death, choking on a piece of candy.
“When I saw that the candy went way beyond her throat.They couldn’t get it out.She started bleeding from her nose, and I was like, ‘Okay, she can’t breathe anymore,’” Mariana’s mother, Paola Garcia, told us.
As the call came in at the firehouse, Lt. Anthony Cavanaugh was preparing to respond when the family pulled up in the alleyway with Mariana in distress.
3-year-old choking victim meets first responder who saved her life
“They handed me the child.The child was not coughing and was not crying at all so that’s an indication that their airway is obstructed,” said Cavanaugh, “So I took the child from them, did some back blows as we’ve been taught for pediatric airway compromise and I was able to dislodge the piece of candy.”
A life-saving technic that lived up to its billing in a matter of seconds.
“We train for hours and hours and hours a year and the one time you use it, it pays off,” said Manchester Volunteer Fire Department Chief Andy Franklin.
Lt. Cavanaugh says he’s been working as a paramedic for about seven years now and this is the first time he can remember where his actions alone have actually saved someone’s life.
“This is the ultimate goal of what we do, right?When we have a chance to truly make a difference in somebody’s life and truly save a life, it gives them a chance to continue on with their life,” reflected Cavanaugh, “and you’re right, she might go on to be a doctor, lawyer, whatever might be, and she’ll get to live her life beyond this.”
All due to a moment in time when a young girl who had just turned three years old a week earlier faced death and survived it with the help of a person trained to save lives.
“I thank him every day, because if it wasn’t for him, I don’t know what could have happened,” said Garcia, “It’s a scary moment and I wish nothing ever, ever happens again like that.It’s really scary to think that you know how to do CPR, but once it’s someone really close to you, you just don’t know how to do it.You just go blank.”
