American Red Cross
Wayne County Chapter

A Brother and Sister Save a 7 Year-Old

Tuesday, August 4, 2009 – 17 year-old Jordan Thrash and his 16 year-old sister Abigail Thrash are being called heroes today after saving the life of 7 year-old Andrew Englert of Sodus.

Jordan and Abigail are staff members at the Summer Recreation Program at Sodus High School. Andrew and his 3 year-old brother both attend the 6 week summer camp.

On Monday, Andrew found a dime out on the playground. He didn’t have any pockets in his shorts so he decided to put the dime in his mouth for “safe-keeping”.

“He came up to me with his hands around his neck and crying.” Abigail explains. “I knew he was choking.” That’s when Jordan jumped into action.

“I knelt down behind him like they taught me and gave him a chest thrust.” Jordan said. “The dime eventually popped out onto his tongue and then he swallowed it.”

Abbie and Jordan took Andrew to the school nurse to let her know what happened.

The teenage staff members were trained in CPR and First Aid by an instructor with the Wayne County Chapter of the American Red Cross.

Andrew’s mom Janet is so thankful that the staff members knew what to do.

“Words cannot describe how grateful we are that Abbie and Jordan were in the right place at the right time and they knew what to do because they had been Red Cross trained.”

Today the Thrash siblings received a certificate from Jim Love, the Executive Director of the American Red Cross in Wayne County. The certificate recognizes their extraordinary personal action using American Red Cross life-saving skills.

Love says. “The important thing is the skills we teach in class actually work – we actually do save lives.”

About the Wayne County Red Cross: The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and counsels victims of disasters; provides nearly half of the nation's blood supply; teaches lifesaving skills; and supports military members and their families. The Red Cross is a charitable organization — not a government agency — and depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to perform its humanitarian mission. For more information, please visit www.WayneCountyRedCross.org or contact us at 315-331-3783.