Rookie garda is hailed as a hero for saving baby
A PROBATIONARY garda has been hailed as a hero after he revived a nine-day-old baby who had stopped breathing.
Garda Patrick McCormack, 25, who only graduated four months ago, was on duty at the public office of Ennis Garda station last Wednesday evening when the distraught parents of a baby girl knocked on the window looking for help.
The two had been walking along nearby Abbey Street in the town with their newborn in a buggy when the mother noticed the baby had turned blue and stopped breathing. The couple went straight to the Garda station.
Recalling the incident, Garda McCormack said: ‘It all happened so fast and adrenaline took over. I did what I did without thinking about it.’
Garda McCormack said that after the mother told him that the baby had stopped breathing, he went out to them and started to apply CPR to the little girl.
He said: ‘I started with a couple of chest compressions and then started back-slapping the baby to help clear its airways.
‘After a couple of minutes, the baby started to cry and I was never as happy to hear a baby cry in my life as I was then.’
Garda Ken Butler, a member of the local traffic corps and a trained paramedic, was also on hand to assist.
The baby was taken by ambulance to hospital where it spent a night under observation.
Garda McCormack said: ‘The mother phoned me the next day to thank me and to say that the baby was doing fine. I was glad that I was able to help.’
He continued: ‘I didn’t expect to be saving a life last week but every day is different. I am loving the job so far.’
Chief Superintendent John Kerin told members of the Clare Joint Policing Committee yesterday that Garda McCormack’s quick thinking and heroics saved the baby girl.
Paying tribute to the rookie officer, Chief Supt Kerin said Garda McCormack did ‘extraordinary work’.
He said: ‘I am really proud of the work and the professionalism of both gardaí, but particularly what young Garda McCormack showed on the night.’
Chief Supt Kerin added: ‘I admire the fact that Garda McCormack didn’t stand back and start ringing everyone to see what could be done – he got stuck in and worked straight away on it.’