Ryan Kilgore might look like your ordinary college student, but ask the Northville Township fire chief, this guy is a hero.
The Wayne State University physical therapy student was working out at an apartment gym in Northville Monday evening, when he heard a commotion from the nearby pool – a father panicking that his three-year-old boy was drowning.
“Somehow the three-year-old wiggled out of his flotation device," Northville Township Fire Chief Rich Marinucci said.
“The father was in shock, asking what to do, what to do,” Kilgore said.
He told the father to lay the child down and Kilgore started CPR, Kilgore's first time performing it since he was trained a few months ago.
“For a child, start with two rescue breaths, and then go into 30 compressions and you usually do about 100 compressions a minute,” Kilgore described.
He performed three rounds for about four minutes, which Kilgore said felt like eternity.
“I was thinking, ‘I have to save this kid.’ I'm not letting him go on my hands,” Kilgore said.
As the boy finally regained consciousness, firefighters and paramedics arrived to give him further treatment and rush him to the hospital.
Chief Marinucci said the boy was discharged from the hospital - fully recovered. He credited Kilgore’s quick actions for the positive outcome.
Kilgore and a second bystander, who dialed 911, will be honored with lifesaving awards Thursday evening during the board of trustees meeting.
Kilgore, who exchanged just a few words with the boy’s father during the chaos, says he’s just glad he was there at the right moment.
“I didn't even catch his name or anything. I don't know if he'd even recognize me, but I'd talk to him and see if he was doing okay and everything,” Kilgore said. “I just did what I was trained.”
The three-year-old boy and his family won’t attend Thursday’s meeting, but Kilgore said he wishes to run into them one day soon.
