Teen saves brother from drowning

When an ordinary vacation turned into a nightmare life-or-death situation for a Whitefish family last week, the quick thinking and heroic actions of one young man made sure the story would have a happy ending.

Whitefish High School freshman Max Lamb, 15, was on a spring break visit with his family at the Symes Hotel in Hot Springs on April 7.

He and his mother, Kate O'Brien, stepfather Frank O'Brien and two younger brothers, Henry and Ben, were eating dinner and the boys wanted to go swimming. Max took them to the pool while Frank and Kate finished their meal.

Henry, 7, gave a life preserver to his younger brother Ben and swam with two floating "noodles' while Max supervised the two.

"Henry knows he should swim with a life jacket, but he didn't have it on this time," Frank explained.

Max's memory of what happened next will probably stay with him the rest of his life.

"I went under the water, and when I came up, I couldn't find (Henry)," he said. "I got out of the pool to look for him, and I just saw the two noodles floating in the water. Then I saw just the back of his head floating above the water."

By this time, it was getting late and the light was fading.

Max said he thought Henry was holding the edge of the pool, but when he went over to his younger brother, he saw that his arms and body were limp.

"I moved his head, and bubbles came up from the side of his mouth," Max explained. "His eyes were closed and he was pale. I pulled him out, and I think I just said 'help' in a regular voice a couple of times before I actually shouted it."

While a crowd of people rushed over, Max set Henry in a patch of grass near the pool. Instead of running for help, Max instantly started performing CPR on his brother, an action that undoubtedly saved precious time.

"I started to give him about 10 chest compressions before someone took over, and I moved to give him a breath," Max said. "After the first breath, (Henry) threw up. I swept the food out of his mouth with my finger, and gave him another breath. He threw up again and made a gargling noise. I could hear the water in his lungs. I pushed out the food from his mouth again, and I could hear him starting to breathe on his own."

Finally, an onlooker with medical training took over so Max could rush inside to tell his parents what happened.

"Max came running in with Ben, really upset," Frank said. "We ran out there and there was a group of people around my son Henry resuscitating him."

The nightmare wasn't over yet, as Henry still didn't have much of a pulse.

An ambulance arrived to take the young boy to the emergency room in Plains, and from there he was Life-Flighted to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit of the Community Health Center in Missoula. His mother Kate rode in the helicopter flight with him.

"It was weird," she said. "I'm in a helicopter, it's a beautiful moonlight night, and all I can see is the monitor equipment. Henry was not really responsive at that point, but the paramedics were being so positive. They were really professional. I never thought about any worst-case scenarios. I haven't even cried yet."

By the time Henry was stabilized at about 2:30 a.m. in Missoula, he was talking, but doctors weren't able to get him to answer questions. He seemed to be only repeating things that were said.

Henry stayed in intensive care for three days while doctors performed a full neurological evaluation.

"It wasn't until I took him to the bathroom and he joked that 'we could be here all day' that I realized he was finally back," Frank said.

On Saturday, back in Whitefish, Henry is scampering around Depot Park like any normal seven-year-old. He is expected to make a full recovery.

"All of the doctors said without question that Max saved his brother's life," Frank said. "His response time made their job that much easier. Just 30 seconds to a minute or more makes so much of a difference. If he had run for help first, it would have been worse. Actually, neither my wife or I know CPR, so if we would have been there instead of Max, we would have just gotten in the way. Needless to say, we will be taking a CPR course now."

At Whitefish High School, Max was required to take a basic CPR course just last semester, so everything was fresh in his mind.

"I never had to think about what to do, I just did it," Max said. "It was drilled into my brain at school. I didn't think I would ever have to use CPR on anyone."

Max said it wasn't until he took a shower at the Hot Springs hotel room that the full scope of what just happened started to hit him.

"It was all a rush. It happened so fast," he said. "The drive to Plains (while Henry was in the ambulance in front of them) was pretty long."

The next local CPR class will be held at Muldown Elementary School on May 6 from 10:30-1 p.m. The cost is $35.

For more information and to register, call 863-3513. A CPR and First Aid class will be held on May 20. For information on that combined class, call Terri at 862-8600 ext. 203.

Because the family's medical insurance will not cover the cost of the Life Flight helicopter transport or the ambulance ride, anyone wishing to help can donate to the Henry O'Brien Medical Fund account at the Whitefish Credit Union.