Woman Writes Tribute to Police Officers After Witnessing Miracle Rescue
After witnessing an Indiana state trooper save a young boy’s life, a woman wrote a beautiful tribute to the hero cop and all other law enforcement officers who put their lives on the line every day despite the growing resentment against them.
The Gates family was on their way back home to Georgia from a vacation in Michigan when their road trip quickly turned into a nightmare.
One of the Gates’ sons, 5-year-old Maddox, began choking during his nap.
“Maddox had fallen asleep and then looked back, and he had kind of made a noise, like a choking noise, like he was going to throw up,” Jill Gates told WSBTV.
She tried to wake him up after he threw up, but he wouldn’t respond.
“His eyes were kind of over to the side and glazed a little bit,” she said.
Terrified, Maddox’s father, Brad Gates, pulled over so they could call 911, but they were on a rural stretch of an Indiana highway.
“To see your child like that, and I almost feel helpless to the extent that he’s not responding and you don’t know what the cause is,” he said.
Thankfully State Trooper Ben Reasons was on his way home when he heard the call.
Reasons was able to respond to the scene quickly, perform the Heimlich maneuver and help save young Maddox’s life.
Once the paramedics arrived, they were able to rush Maddox to a nearby hospital where he was later released to go home.
Had the trooper not responded as quickly as he did, the story may have turned much more grim.
This Cobb County family is grateful tonight for the heroic actions of an Indiana state trooper. The Gates were headed home after visiting relatives in Michigan when their youngest son started choking. His parents are still shocked but they hope you ll listen to their story. pic.twitter.com/jLVGNZz5KS
— Michael Seiden (@SeidenWSBTV) September 29, 2019
Shayla Mathis was at home when the Gates family pulled off the highway and she witnessed the miraculous rescue by Reasons. Her dogs first alerted her to the horrifying scene.
She watched as Jill and Brad frantically called 911 and handed their 5-year-old son to Reasons, hoping the trooper could save his life.
“The officer could have waited for EMT’s to arrive but he didn’t,” Mathis wrote in a Facebook post on Sept. 26. “The officer continued working on him. The child began spitting stuff up and slowly came back to life.
“Today I watched an officer save a little boy’s life.”
Mathis felt compelled to share what she had just witnessed to combat the growing resentment against law enforcement in our country.
“Often times the police are criticized,” she wrote. “What people forget is that police are the first people we want to see in an emergency.
“Police give us a sense of safety especially when faced with situations like these parents were today.”
She also pointed out that police officers never know what situation they will be walking into each day they go to work, much like Officer Reasons had no idea he’d save a life that day.
“Police do acts of service like this every single day. I just happened to witness one of them this afternoon,” she said.
“I just want to say thank you. Thank you to all the men and women in blue who risk your life and thank you for saving others.”
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