Reidland girls honored for saving neighbor's life
By Kat Russell, Reporter
The Paducah Sun
October 1, 2016
http://www.paducahsun.com/news/local/girls-honored-for-saving-a-life/article_67d469f4-5b12-11e7-8e23-10604b9f0f42.html
"911 what is your emergency?"
"I have a neighbor and he's like 80-something years old and he's like ... in the bathtub not moving and so I don't really know what to do."
Those words came from 12-year-old Kaylee Winstead who, along with her sister Mykah Winstead, 6, and friend Cassie Battoe, 12, saved an elderly neighbor's life a few weeks ago with quick thinking and a call to 911.
The call came into the Paducah E911 dispatch center at 5:30 p.m. on Aug. 25. Dispatcher Misty Beal, who has worked at the dispatch center for about 13 years, answered Kaylee's call.
Kaylee explained that she and the other girls went to check on their 87-year-old neighbor at his Reidland home, something they do daily.
When he didn't answer the door, the girls went inside and found the man unconscious and barely breathing.
"I think he's alive because he's breathing," Kaylee said during the call. "I can hear him, but he's not moving."
Kaylee told the dispatcher she'd been concerned about the man since she saw him earlier that day.
"She said she talked to her neighbor earlier that day, and he didn't really seem like he was acting right -- he kind of seemed a little off -- so she went back later to check on him," Beal said.
Beal then asked the girl a series of questions -- is he conscious, does he have a pulse, what's the man's address-- which Kaylee answered to the best of her ability, at one point even running outside to check the numbers on the man's house.
"She was a little upset, you could kind of tell she was worried, but she was probably one of the better callers we've had," Beal said. "She was wonderful about answering the questions I asked her and giving me the information I needed to send help."
Kaylee and Mykah's mom, Loranda Winstead, said her family has known the man, who wished to remain anonymous, for decades.
"I've lived in this house since I was five years old," she said. "So, he's watched me grow up and watched the girls grow up. He's kind of like family."
Chapman Offut, a firefighter and EMT with the Reidland Fire Department, was one of the responders to the man's house that day.
"When I got on scene, I saw the girls standing in the yard," he said.
Offut said the man was unable to breathe on his own so they ventilated him, resuscitated him and got him stable enough for transport to a local hospital.
The man has since recovered and returned home, but not before learning three little girls had saved his life.
"Without them calling 911, for sure (the neighbor's) outcome would have been different," Offut said.
In his line of work, Offut said there are many times when he's faced with "if only" stories -- if only someone had called 911 sooner, if only he had gotten help sooner -- and the outcomes of those stories are rarely good.
"But you couldn't ask for a better outcome here and that's because of what these girls did," he said.
"There is no doubt in my mind that they saved (the man's) life. They called 911, they gave us the information we needed, and we were able to get the man the help he needed and get him to a hospital."
Impressed with the girls' courage and quick thinking, Offut said he felt compelled to do something special for the girls.
"With these girls being so young -- calling 911 and staying with (the man) until help arrived -- it just touched me, touched my heart, and I felt they deserved to be recognized," he said.
Offut reached out to McCracken Sheriff Jon Hayden, asking if there was something they could do for the girls.
"The EMS and fire department folks were absolutely convinced that if these little girls hadn't gone in to check on (the neighbor) and called 911 and gotten him help, he would not have survived," Hayden said.
On Friday, the girls, along with the rest of Reidland Middle School, crowded into the school's gym for a special assembly. Kaylee, Cassie and Mykah had no idea the assembly had been called for them.
Sheriff Hayden and several deputies were there waiting for them, along with Chapman and few of his fellow Reidland firefighters and EMTs, EMS personnel, county officials, 911 dispatcher Beal and the man whose life they had saved.
Each girl was given four awards -- one from the sheriff's department, one from the fire department, one from the ambulance service and one from the dispatch center -- recognizing them for their heroism.
"It's pretty special what they did," Sheriff Hayden said. "I know I won't ever forget it. When a child does something good, they need to be recognized for that. Our goal was to make these little girls feel special."
Following the assembly Friday, the girls said that day was one of the scariest they've experienced.
"I was so scared," Kaylee said. "I kept trying to shake him but he wouldn't wake up, and he was making weird noises. That's when I decided I had to call 911."
At the time, Kaylee said she wasn't thinking about being a hero, she just knew her neighbor -- her friend -- needed help. Looking back though, she said she's "proud that we saved a person's life."
"He's really nice," she said. "He calls us his "little buddies.'"
"My girls love him to death," Winstead said. "And, my oldest daughter is the caregiver -- she just worries about him -- so she's always wanting to check on him and make sure he's OK. I'm so proud of them. They're good girls, and they did really good."
As for the neighbor, he said he's grateful to the girls for helping him and thankful he's still able to enjoy daily visits with his "little buddies."
"I have a neighbor and he's like 80-something years old and he's like ... in the bathtub not moving and so I don't really know what to do."
Those words came from 12-year-old Kaylee Winstead who, along with her sister Mykah Winstead, 6, and friend Cassie Battoe, 12, saved an elderly neighbor's life a few weeks ago with quick thinking and a call to 911.
The call came into the Paducah E911 dispatch center at 5:30 p.m. on Aug. 25. Dispatcher Misty Beal, who has worked at the dispatch center for about 13 years, answered Kaylee's call.
Kaylee explained that she and the other girls went to check on their 87-year-old neighbor at his Reidland home, something they do daily.
When he didn't answer the door, the girls went inside and found the man unconscious and barely breathing.
"I think he's alive because he's breathing," Kaylee said during the call. "I can hear him, but he's not moving."
Kaylee told the dispatcher she'd been concerned about the man since she saw him earlier that day.
"She said she talked to her neighbor earlier that day, and he didn't really seem like he was acting right -- he kind of seemed a little off -- so she went back later to check on him," Beal said.
Beal then asked the girl a series of questions -- is he conscious, does he have a pulse, what's the man's address-- which Kaylee answered to the best of her ability, at one point even running outside to check the numbers on the man's house.
"She was a little upset, you could kind of tell she was worried, but she was probably one of the better callers we've had," Beal said. "She was wonderful about answering the questions I asked her and giving me the information I needed to send help."
Kaylee and Mykah's mom, Loranda Winstead, said her family has known the man, who wished to remain anonymous, for decades.
"I've lived in this house since I was five years old," she said. "So, he's watched me grow up and watched the girls grow up. He's kind of like family."
Chapman Offut, a firefighter and EMT with the Reidland Fire Department, was one of the responders to the man's house that day.
"When I got on scene, I saw the girls standing in the yard," he said.
Offut said the man was unable to breathe on his own so they ventilated him, resuscitated him and got him stable enough for transport to a local hospital.
The man has since recovered and returned home, but not before learning three little girls had saved his life.
"Without them calling 911, for sure (the neighbor's) outcome would have been different," Offut said.
In his line of work, Offut said there are many times when he's faced with "if only" stories -- if only someone had called 911 sooner, if only he had gotten help sooner -- and the outcomes of those stories are rarely good.
"But you couldn't ask for a better outcome here and that's because of what these girls did," he said.
"There is no doubt in my mind that they saved (the man's) life. They called 911, they gave us the information we needed, and we were able to get the man the help he needed and get him to a hospital."
Impressed with the girls' courage and quick thinking, Offut said he felt compelled to do something special for the girls.
"With these girls being so young -- calling 911 and staying with (the man) until help arrived -- it just touched me, touched my heart, and I felt they deserved to be recognized," he said.
Offut reached out to McCracken Sheriff Jon Hayden, asking if there was something they could do for the girls.
"The EMS and fire department folks were absolutely convinced that if these little girls hadn't gone in to check on (the neighbor) and called 911 and gotten him help, he would not have survived," Hayden said.
On Friday, the girls, along with the rest of Reidland Middle School, crowded into the school's gym for a special assembly. Kaylee, Cassie and Mykah had no idea the assembly had been called for them.
Sheriff Hayden and several deputies were there waiting for them, along with Chapman and few of his fellow Reidland firefighters and EMTs, EMS personnel, county officials, 911 dispatcher Beal and the man whose life they had saved.
Each girl was given four awards -- one from the sheriff's department, one from the fire department, one from the ambulance service and one from the dispatch center -- recognizing them for their heroism.
"It's pretty special what they did," Sheriff Hayden said. "I know I won't ever forget it. When a child does something good, they need to be recognized for that. Our goal was to make these little girls feel special."
Following the assembly Friday, the girls said that day was one of the scariest they've experienced.
"I was so scared," Kaylee said. "I kept trying to shake him but he wouldn't wake up, and he was making weird noises. That's when I decided I had to call 911."
At the time, Kaylee said she wasn't thinking about being a hero, she just knew her neighbor -- her friend -- needed help. Looking back though, she said she's "proud that we saved a person's life."
"He's really nice," she said. "He calls us his "little buddies.'"
"My girls love him to death," Winstead said. "And, my oldest daughter is the caregiver -- she just worries about him -- so she's always wanting to check on him and make sure he's OK. I'm so proud of them. They're good girls, and they did really good."
As for the neighbor, he said he's grateful to the girls for helping him and thankful he's still able to enjoy daily visits with his "little buddies."
