TWO BRAVE BOYS
Two quick-thinking and brave brothers are being saluted for saving their grandmother's life in November. The boys called 911 and performed CPR after their grandma went into cardiac arrest, writes
Kian Wu, 10, right, and Grayson Wu, 7, left, were honoured with Star Awards on Tuesday for saving their grandmother’s life by calling 911 and performing CPR when she went into cardiac arrest. Grandma Patti Chatterson, centre, calls their actions ‘incredible.’
What should have been a sleepy Saturday was anything but for a pair of brothers-turned-heroes in Saskatoon.
All Grayson Wu, age seven, and his 10-year-old brother, Kian, wanted that morning was to watch a movie and have a snack. But when they went to ask their grandmother, Patti Chatterson, what they could have to eat, they discovered her “slouching and grunting on the couch and coughing,” Grayson said.
They checked her breathing. No signs. They checked her pulse. No evidence of a heartbeat.
“My brother and me knew there was something wrong,” Grayson said.
The older of the siblings quickly made an emergency phone call.
“Hello. Our grandma is not breathing and she’s been coughing and she’s unconscious,” Kian said in his dramatic call to 911.
Here are five things to know about what happened and why the duo was honoured Tuesday with Star Awards from Medavie Health Services West:
1
'It was hard to stay brave'
The pair phoned 911 on Nov. 10 shortly before 8 a.m. Something was clearly wrong with their grandmother, but they didn’t panic. With guidance from the emergency operator, they performed CPR until paramedics arrived and defibrillated Chatterson four times.
“It was hard to stay brave because grandma was in a cardiac arrest,” Grayson said on Tuesday.
2
Kian spoke to 911 for nearly three minutes
Kian Wu was guided over the phone by an emergency operator, who — displaying the calm, measured nature required for the job — talked him through the CPR. On the audio recording of the 911 call, a paramedic is heard entering the home and telling the brothers, “Great job.”
Wu sounded calm during the phone call, though he wasn’t so collected on the inside.
“It was just adrenalin rushes because I was so scared of what was going to happen,” he said on Tuesday.
3 Chatterson recalls very little
Kian said listening to the 911 call on Tuesday was difficult.
Chatterson, who works as a nurse in Saskatoon, said she remembers nothing about what happened that day, “But once I found out and started processing it all, it’s been extremely emotional.”
The fact the boys knew what to do and did it so quickly, “was incredible,” she said, calling their response “nothing short of a miracle, in my opinion.”
4
These awards are exceptional
MHS West usually hands out Star Awards at its annual Badge, Shield and Star event.
“After listening to the 911 call made by the grandsons, how they initiated CPR, and delivered over 400 compressions prior to our arrival, we needed to make an exception for this call,” MHS West spokesman Troy Davies said.
5
'My heroes for life'
Chatterson fought back tears as her grandchildren were honoured for their heroics.
“It was really hard to comprehend what they had to go through,” she said, calling her grandchildren “my heroes for life.”