Fox Chapel teen, emergency responders and dispatcher honored for saving boy’s life
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New Year’s morning began with a crisis for the Stephany family of Fox Chapel. Their youngest member, Max, 11, was found unconscious inside their Riding Trail Lane home.
Parents Rob and Molly Stephany tried all they could to wake him up. However, Max did not respond and was not breathing. Molly Stephany spoke with Allegheny County dispatch. Rob Stephany attempted to clear Max’s airway.
Their middle child, Eliott, a lifeguard at Fox Chapel Racquet Club, had recently been certified in cardiopulmonary resuscitation. He began performing CPR on his younger brother with the assistance of dispatcher Shelby Urban, who had alerted responders of the situation.
“It felt very lonely to us, and then the cops showed up and then the EMS,” Rob Stephany said. “That young lady who was on the phone, she was both forceful and empathetic and compassionate telling us exactly what to do. We were frantic.”
It was one of the more emotional calls in Urban’s budding career. The Penn Hills resident became a dispatcher in October.
“As soon as you hear (a child is not breathing), you’re pretty much having the same response the family is having,” Urban said. “You’re almost in a panic the same way that they are, but you have to be that calm voice for them and let them know the responders are on their way. They’re going to get to him.
“It’s a good thing that (Eliott’s) a lifeguard and knew how to do CPR.”
Eliott said Max appeared to go in and out of consciousness as he administered CPR.
“Me and my whole family was crying as he was going out on the door on the stretcher,” he said.
Foxwall EMS Chief Anthony Cuda said his crews responded to the call at 8:47 a.m. on Jan. 1, and were able to make it to the house in about three minutes.
EMTs took over CPR and other medical treatments, and transported Max to Children’s Hospital of UPMC.
“Everybody did a perfect job,” Cuda said. “This was a very complicated and severe call that everything sort of lined up. We got the best possible outcome from it. CPR buys us time. If we have somebody doing CPR when we get there the patient has a huge advantage.”
Molly Stephany said doctors at Children’s Hospital told the family Max’s airways were clogged due to the covid variant omicron.
“They couldn’t rule anything else out,” she said. Doctors gave Max racemic epinephrine as part of their treatment, and he was able to recover.
“I was worried he was going to lose brain function, and he didn’t lose anything and he remembered everything,” the mother said.
Max, a third grader at Hartwood Elementary School, was discharged after a couple days in the hospital without further complications.
Borough council on Feb. 21 gave proclamations to Eliott; Urba; dispatcher Jen Bosco; paramedic Jason Syska, EMTs Noah Bicker, Janelle Hood and Tom Su, all from Foxwall; registered nurse I-Ting Wang; Fox Chapel police Sgt. Craig Sorg and Officer Donald Stoner.
“I’m just filled with joy that we were all able to get together, and I could thank everybody in person and see their faces and let them know what a great job they did saving my son’s life,” Molly Stephany said.
Eliott thanked the borough for the recognition.
“I feel like this is the one time that I’m gonna be on good terms with the police instead of pulled over when I’m older,” said Eliott, 15, a sophomore at Fox Chapel Area High School. “It’s an honor.”
Cuda recommended that council honor those involved in saving Max.
“They do this sort of work everyday, and it’s nice for them to get some recognition,” he said. “What better opportunity than when everything goes right?”
Police Chief Michael Stevens agreed everyone did their jobs to the best of their abilities.
“I’m not surprised at the effort that was provided by the police, the EMTs and the dispatchers,” Stevens said. “They’re all highly professional. It is gratifying to see the end result of the work and training. When a life can be saved, it’s something worth celebrating. I’m very glad the borough recognized, through the proclamation, their efforts.”