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Teen lifeguards save drowning 2-year-old
(by Kimberly Redmond - September 22, 2008)
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Photos courtesy of Kelly Catania
Kelly Catania and her daughter Carly take a picture with Matthew Conklyn, who helped save Carly's life last month when she almost drowned.
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Kelly Catania described it as pure chaos.
On Aug. 18, Oradell resident Kelly and her 2-year-old daughter Carly were spending the day at the pool at Hackensack Golf and Country Club in Emerson. Carly was playing next to the pool’s stairs and, according to lifeguard John Ragosta, 19, of
Dumont , “must have walked right in. No one really noticed. She just looked like any other kid playing near the pool.”
No one noticed until they heard Kelly’s screams. Lifeguard Matthew Conklyn, 18, of Emerson, ran over from the pool’s snack bar after hearing Kelly scream. Upon reaching the pool, he saw the little girl lying unresponsive on the pavement.
“When I removed her from the water she had no pulse and was completely blue,” said Kelly. “I really think she was at the gates of Heaven.”
Several bystanders were screaming and advising Matt not to touch the still little girl and to wait for the ambulance. Despite this, Matt performed CPR on her until she was revived, while John assisted. The two lifeguards estimated it took about a minute and a half to resuscitate Carly. Matt describes that 90-second time frame as being fueled by an “adrenaline rush.” John recalls that the only thing running through his head was, “Please, please, please come back.”
Following the resuscitation, both Matt and John were pretty rattled. John had to fill out the police report because Matt was shaking. This was the first rescue for Matt and the second for John.
When Officer Dan Kalyoussef arrived on the scene, he found Carly in the arms of her mother, Kelly. Kalyoussef believes the little girl might have died if not for the actions of the lifeguards. Doctors at
Hackensack
University
Medical
Center , where Carly was held for four days, proclaimed her survival a miracle due to the damage to her liver and lungs.
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| Mayor Louis Lamatina presents medals to John Ragosta (left) and Matthew Conklyn (center), honoring the teen lifeguards for recently saving the life of 2-year-old Carly Catania. |
On Sept. 16, Matthew Conklyn and John Ragosta were lauded by the Emerson Mayor and Council for saving Carly’s life.
During the presentation, which proclaimed Sept. 16, 2008 “Matthew Conklyn and John Ragosta Day,” Kelly Catania thanked the two lifeguards for “bringing Carly back to life for us.” She also expressed gratitude for the support of the police department, the Hackensack Golf and Country Club and the community. Her gratitude will continue to extend towards Matt, a family friend she’s known many years, as she is in the process of setting up a college fund for him.
At last Tuesday’s council meeting, among the members of the community who had come to witness the proclamation were a little girl and her father. She had asked him a question, perhaps wanting to know why there were so many people in attendance. While the question went unheard, his answer was a simple one:
“Everyone wants to meet a hero.”
Kimberly Redmond's e-mail address is redmondk@northjersey.com.
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