Save A Life

Courtesy: WRAL/The Boyd Family

If this doesn't motivate you to get CPR training I don't know what will. Phillip Boyd, an employee of WRAL, saved his infant son's life by performing CPR on him. Blake Thomas Boyd and Phillip and his wife, Kristin, were thrilled to be first-time parents. One day, while Phillip was still off work to be with his wife and new child, the family had a frightening experience.

"My wife was breast-feeding our child and, after she was done, she handed him to me to burp him. His lips had turned purplish blue and it looked like he was having a tough time breathing," Boyd said. "We took him, put him down on the floor, and my wife called 911."

He gave his son two breaths and thirty compressions about four times before the paramedics arrived.

"I was talking with the 911 dispatcher and he was instructing me to put my ear to my son's mouth, watch his chest, and tell him each time I saw him breathe," Boyd said. "The EMT workers got there and, after assessing the situation, they realized he had started breathing again. It was a gamut of emotions."

Boyd was trained in CPR as a Boy Scout and took First Responder/CPR training through his job several years ago. Before Blake’s arrival, he and his wife took a refresher course in infant CPR at WakeMed. Miraculously, the couple were squeezed into the class at WakeMed and would've had to wait until July if they hadn't gotten in.

After this experience, Boyd said, “I can't stress enough to people how important it is to learn CPR, particularly if you are about to have a child."

Hear what Phillip Boyd had to say in a radio interview with Mix 101.5.

Thanks to WRAL for this story!