When a New York state police sergeant went to pull over a speeder – he had no idea it would result in a heroic drive to the hospital.
On Monday, Matthew Morgan’s 22-month-old son, also named Matthew, suffered a seizure and collapsed. The 19-year-old father grabbed the small lifeless body and hopped into his car. He began speeding through the Village of Red Hook, when he was spotted by Police Sergeant Patrick Hildenbrand. WABC has the details of what happened next:
“I was going and then he hit his lights and then as soon as I seen that I stopped and I ran to his car. You get through traffic a lot faster,” Morgan said.
“He has a young boy in his hands and he’s running at me, yelling at me, his son is not breathing. ‘I think my son is dead, my son is not breathing,'” Hildenbrand said.
What happened next is extraordinary. Morgan, now in the back seat of a police SUV held his son close to the partition and watched as the 35-year-old policeman drove to the hospital and performed CPR on the boy at the same time.
“I reached my hand back here as I’m driving, moved my body over and started doing all the compressions and feeling for a pulse while I could still operate the vehicle,” Hildenbrand said.
And while Hildenbrand told WABC that he does not consider himself a hero, the emergency room physician says otherwise.
“I really don’t think this child would be here today if it wasn’t for those efforts. I think the key is when you can start rescue CPR out in the community it certainly, the earlier you start it the better outcomes you have,” said Dr. John Sabia, of Northern Dutchess Hospital.
Doctors performed tests on the little boy and are unsure of what caused his collapse. He is now back at home.
