A toddler who was crushed by a barbecue is lucky to be alive after a nearby off-duty ambulance volunteer jumped in to perform CPR.
Grayson Garrad was playing in his family’s backyard in South Australia’s Yorke Peninsula on June 1 when a barbecue smoker toppled over onto the two-year-old.
His airways were crushed and he was knocked unconscious.
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“He was obviously limp, unresponsive and he was blue,” mother Ashleigh Garrad told 7NEWS.
In a triple-0 call obtained by 7NEWS, Ashleigh can be heard telling the operator that her son wasn’t bleeding, but was “as pale as anything”.
Thankfully for the Garrad family, off-duty ambulance volunteer Rob Davis was nearby and made aware of the incident via an app called GoodSAM.
The app alerts registered responders if a cardiac arrest occurs near them.
South Australians who are registered health practitioners, tertiary-level healthcare students or SA Ambulance Service staff can register as GoodSAM responders.
Davis was out grabbing an ice cream when he dropped everything to get to the two-year-old.
He was by the toddler’s side within five minutes.
“This man in his regular clothes came and I was like, I didn’t know who he was or where he came from,” Ashleigh said.
Davis said Grayson was “lifeless”, and he began performing CPR on the little boy.
“You just don’t know when someone’s gonna need your help,” he said.
It was successful, and Grayson was flown to Adelaide where he spent a week in hospital.
He made a full recovery.
“I honestly thought that day that he was gonna be gone,” Ashleigh said.
“You couldn’t thank (Davis) enough for what he’s done.”
– With reporting by Hayden Nelson
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