CUB SCOUT'S BIG BEAR HUG SAVES A LIFE.Byline: DENNIS McCARTHY Dennis McCarthy may refer to:
Odds and ends from around the Valley: The Student of the Month at Pinecrest School in Northridge jumped up from his desk in homeroom home·room n. A school classroom to which a group of pupils of the same grade are required to report each day. Noun 1. homeroom last week, grabbed his friend, Matt Hathaway, and gave him a big bear hug Bear Hug An offer made by a company to buy the shares of another company that is too high for the board of the target firm to refuse. Notes: If the target company says the merger is okay but they want a higher price, it is called a "teddy bear hug. from behind. ``Stop it, Jake, you're hurting him,'' the teacher said. ``Sit down and leave Matt alone.'' But 10-year-old Jake Singer didn't listen. He kept his arms tightly around Matt, and continued to administer the Heimlich maneuver Heimlich maneuver, emergency procedure used to treat choking victims whose airway is obstructed by food or another substance. It forces air from the lungs through the windpipe, pushing the obstruction out. until Matt spit out Verb 1. spit out - spit up in an explosive manner splutter, sputter cough out, cough up, expectorate, spit up, spit out - discharge (phlegm or sputum) from the lungs and out of the mouth 2. the cherry pit A child's play, in which cherries are thrown into a hole. A cherry stone. - Shak. See also: Cherry Cherry that had lodged in his throat. With Matt's back to her, the teacher didn't realize the boy couldn't breathe and was turning blue. Only Jake saw his friend's face. ``I wasn't scared doing it, Mom,'' Jake later told his mother, Faith Singer. ``But I was scared Matt wasn't breathing. I was scared for my friend.'' Thursday, Matt and his mom, Brenda Hathaway, took Jake and his mom out for pizza to say thank you. Joining them was Bruce McDonald, the leader of Cub Scout Pack 441 at Pinecrest School in Northridge. Last November, as part of first-aid training, Bruce taught Jake and his other Cub Scouts the Heimlich maneuver. ``When I heard what Jake had done, I was thrilled beyond words,'' McDonald said. ``I may have taught him how to do it, but it was Scouting that helped him save Matt's life.'' When it came time last Friday for Pinecrest School Principal Janice Rudd to stand up in front of the student body in the auditorium and announce who had been chosen Student of the Month, there was only one real candidate, everyone knew. The quiet 10-year-old kid who saved his buddy's life and became the campus hero. ``I never thought I would have to use it,'' Jake said Thursday, sharing a pizza with Matt. ``It's something good to know in emergencies, but you never want it to happen again.'' Matt smiled and shook his head. No, never again. Some stories refuse to die. Take Craig Shergold, now known as Craig Sheppard. He was 7 and dying of cancer in England in 1989, when he put out a plea through the Children's Wish Foundation in Atlanta for people to send him greeting cards See e-card. so he could be in the Guinness Book of Records. More than 16 million cards were mailed to him in a year, and Craig had his place in the 1991 paperback edition of the Guinness book on page 487. Should have been end of story, right? Wrong. The kid beat his cancer and is now in his 20s. But there's still a chain letter network waiting to grant his wish 17 years later. I just got another chain letter Thursday from a woman in Florida who wanted me to help a little boy's wish come true. His name's Craig Sheppard now, and he's still 7, still dying of cancer. But it isn't greeting cards he wants now, it's business cards. The kid had supposedly contacted the Make-A-Wish Foundation The Make-A-Wish Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that grants wishes to children (2.5 years to 18 years old) with life-threatening medical conditions. to help him get in the Guinness book. He never did. ``It's a story that has taken on a life of its own Memory Burn A Life Of Its Own was released by Noise Kontrol in 2002. Memory Burn is made up of several high profile musicians who came together to create this special work. ,'' said Shelley Ginsburg, director of public relations public relations, activities and policies used to create public interest in a person, idea, product, institution, or business establishment. By its nature, public relations is devoted to serving particular interests by presenting them to the public in the most for the Los Angeles Make-A-Wish Foundation. ``It just won't die. ``The real Craig is now a healthy college student, and has requested an end to the mail. But it just keeps coming. I guess the good news is people think of us first when they send a card to Craig, but we've never had anything to do with his wish.'' If you truly want to help a terminally ill Terminally Ill When a person is not expected to live more than 12 months. Notes: Any gifts given out by the afflicted person at this time may be considered as a dispersion of the estate rather than a gift. child get a last wish fulfilled, there is no shortage of real girls and boys locally who could use your help, Ginsberg says. So throw Craig's chain letter away, and give Ginsberg a call at the Make-A-Wish oundation at (310) 788-9474 or see www.wishla.org. Dennis McCarthy, (818) 713-3749 dennis.mccarthy(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Jake Singer, 10, right, saved classmate Matt Hathaway, 10, at school by using the Heimlich maneuver that he learned in Cub Scouts. Gus Ruelas/Staff Photographer |
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