It may be too early to call it a Christmas miracle, but John Chilcott from the Village of Mineola’s building department gave a local mother an early gift after saving her infant son from dying in Village Hall in Mineola yesterday.
“It was just instinct,” he said. “I just used three fingers, pressed on his chest little and it brought him around. It can’t hurt to know CPR.”
According to Mineola village officials, a woman, who has not been identified, arrived in Village Hall at 1:30 p.m. to pay an outstanding parking ticket. Village Court was closed briefly, so she decided to return later.
As she was leaving the building, her son stopped breathing, officials said. The boy turned blue, Chilcott said, while the mother was running back into Village Hall and spotted Mineola Leisure Club President Mike Coniglio, residents Gene Raffetto and Bart Loewenthal playing cards. Coniglio said Loewenthal called 911, but was put on hold.
“We were running all over the place looking for help,” he said. “It was horrifying to see a little baby not breathing. The mother attempted CPR herself. Then [Chilcott] came in.”
An office worker noticed the commotion and ran upstairs to call the police, officials said. Chilcott was eating his lunch when he heard the yell. All Chilcott could think of as he ran downstairs was his granddaughter, who turned 1-month old on Wednesday, he said.
“I just ran downstairs,” he said. “The baby was on the table. The mother was hovering over crying trying to wake the kid up. I moved her out of the way did a couple of compressions on his chests and shook his shoulders. He opened his eyes and started crying.”
An ambulance transported the mother and infant to Winthrop-University Hospital shortly after Chillcott’s rescue. He was trained in CPR by the American Red Cross at a previous job before joining the village’s building department. Chilcott feels that instruction should be a requirement in every business.
“Thank God. I would’ve had hate to seen [him die],” Chilcott said. “It would’ve ruined Christmas.”
