MOBILE, Ala. (WKRG) — A Mobile man was presented with a Civilian Lifesaving Award from Mobile Fire-Rescue for helping save the life of his 10-month-old neighbor on Sept. 24, 2022, according to a Facebook post from MFRD.
Leonard Osborne, an employee at Providence Hospital, heard knocking on his front door that Saturday and recognized his neighbor was at the door. When he opened the door, he saw the 10-month-old in “a poor condition, struggling to breathe, with blood around its mouth and blueish skin,” according to the release.
“I didn’t even think. Instinct took over,” recalled Osbourne. “I just took the baby, and thought ‘What do I do?’ Then, it clicked, and somehow, I immediately remembered my CPR training.”
While the 10-month-old’s mother, Ashley Jackson, was on the phone with 911, Osborne performed back blows with the palm of his hand.
MFRD were called to the Sandpiper Townhomes on Government Blvd. for reports of an infant choking and unresponsive.
The child’s color began to return “after several rounds of back blows.” The baby spit up blood and mucus and Osborne could hear “gasps and air flowing in and out of the baby’s airway.”
Paramedics and MBFR arrived on scene arrived “just moments” after Osbourne “initiated interventions.”
Further care on the 10-month-old was provided and a chunk of a foam football was dislodged and free from the child’s airway.
“This changed my life,” Osborne told the fire crew. “So much so that I’m thinking about teaching CPR, now. It was just that real. In life, you never know why you’re put some places and in some positions. It lifted me.”
Captain Todd Norsworthy said “A lot of people worry about not doing CPR because they can’t do it perfectly. The thing is, we don’t need ‘perfect.’ We just need something.”