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N.C. firefighters save life of 1-year-old who swallowed penny

Puppy Creek Fire Department used life-saving measures to restore breathing to the boy, who also suffered a heart attack en route to the hospital

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Melody Brown-Peyton
The Fayetteville Observer, N.C.

RAEFORD — A Hoke County mother is thankful for the firefighters who saved her 1-year-old son’s life.

On Sept. 6, Katherine Stroud noticed that her son, Karter Stroud, was lying in a position that was not typical for him. She asked her brother to check on him, and when he went into the room he saw the infant’s face was blue.

Stroud said she became hysterical after seeing her son and immediately called 911. Firefighters with Puppy Creek Fire Department in Raeford responded.

“I was in such a panic,” she said, “I met firefighters in the street with my son in my arms.”

She said emotions in her home that day were very high. She just lost her mother in June.

Her 11-year-old daughter, Amiyah Purcell, looked at her and said: “We just lost Grandma. We cannot lose Karter, too.”

En route to the hospital, Stroud said her son had a heart attack but was revived by emergency medical personnel. An X-ray showed a penny in his stomach.

Puppy Creek Fire Chief John Joseph said the department received a 911 call about a person have breathing difficulties. While a crew was on the way to the house, the call was upgraded to cardiac arrest involving a 1-year-old.

He said the child was immediately given to firefighters, who began life-saving measures.

“The child was lifeless. There was no pulse,” Joseph said.

The chief said responders used a breathing device on Karter to get air into his lungs. Medical responders arrived and took over providing care for Karter. By that time, Karter’s breathing had been partially restored.

Karter passed the penny a week later.

Joseph said the emotions of that day surfaced later for the firefighters.

“On that day, firefighters met a challenge and used their training and skills and saved a life,” Joseph said.

Stroud said it is a miracle that her son survived and credits first responders for the work they did.

On Wednesday, N.C. Commissioner of Insurance and State Fire Marshal Mike Causey will present Puppy Creek firefighters with the state’s life-saving award.

Staff writer Melody Brown-Peyton can be reached at mbrownpeyton@fayobserver.com or 910-486-3568.

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©2020 The Fayetteville Observer (Fayetteville, N.C.)

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