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Red Cross honors deputy who saved baby

WILLIAMSVILE — A Chautauqua County Sheriff’s deputy who helped an infant girl choking on food last year was one of several recognized by the American Red Cross at its inaugural Western New York Real Heroes Breakfast. The recognition event took place at the Park Country Club in Williamsville.

Deputy Adam McAdoo was one of 12 people honored Thursday by the Red Cross. The five-year member of the Sheriff’s Office was eating lunch Nov. 5, 2018, at the Mayville Diner when a woman inside yelled that her 8-month-old child was not breathing. McAdoo, who’s also an emergency medical technician, rushed to the child and began first aid.

“Like I was trained I went to the child, which wasn’t making any noise,” McAdoo told The Post-Journal at the time. “It wasn’t crying and wasn’t breathing.”

McAdoo said he turned the 8-month-old over and gave several back blows using the palm of his hand. He said a piece of food was dislodged and the girl began crying.

“She got back to normal pretty quickly,” McAdoo said. “Once I heard her crying, a lot of the stress was gone.”

The incident highlighted the importance of EMS training for first responders; McAdoo received training while going through the Sheriff’s Academy.

According to the Red Cross, the Real Heroes Breakfast “celebrates the nonprofit’s mission of alleviating human suffering by recognizing people from throughout the region who have performed heroic acts during times of crisis. The heroes include first responders as well as ordinary citizens who performed life-saving acts.”

Proceeds from the Real Heroes Breakfast benefit the Red Cross, which provides relief to victims of disasters and helps people prevent, prepare for and respond to emergencies. The Western New York Chapter serves communities in Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie, Genesee, Niagara, Orleans, and Wyoming counties.

The 2019 Real Heroes are:

¯ Adult Good Samaritan: Mike Horton, who responded to an emergency call, finding a 6-year-old boy choking on a jaw breaker. Mr. Horton quickly gave the boy abdominal thrusts which caused the jaw breaker to dislodge from the boy’s throat.

¯ Animal Rescue: Don Chatten, who jumped into Ellicott Creek waters to rescue a small dog in February, returning the dog safely to its owner.

¯ Blood Donor: Danny Osgood, whose generosity through blood donation, a young man can live without fear or worry about finding a matching donor.

¯ Community Service: Allyson Nemeth, who has been hosting the annual Pasta Sauce Off since she was 10 years old. Through this event, Allyson has raised over $42,000 which has been directly donated to the Courage of Carly Fund at Roswell Park to support Roswell’s youngest patients through the advancement of research and patient care.

¯ Education: Natalie Oaks, a special education teacher at Martin Road Elementary School. Oaks led a fundraiser involving her students and other Special Education classes to teach them that small hands can make a big difference, and donated over $500 to the Red Cross for emergency services following the fall 2018 hurricanes.

¯ Fire Rescue: Buffalo Fire Ladder 7/2nd Platoon. The crew of this platoon, Timothy Cardwell, Brett Carrol, Ronald Dussett and Ernest Gilliam, executed a vent-enter search technique which directly resulted in the rescue of two children, ages four and eight.

¯ Good Neighbor: Caliyah Boston and Evette Phillips. Phillips founded “We R Buffalo Strong,” an organization which strives to make a difference in the lives of the homeless, elderly, and veterans within the community by providing them with food and other crucial resources. Boston selflessly collected and donated three carloads of supplies, including food and clothes, for this organization.

¯ Lifeline: Denise Cuillo, who is the director of education and quality improvement at Mercy Flight.

¯ Military: Mike Hoplight. In 2012, retired Army SFC Mike Hoplight was one of four Red Cross volunteers stationed in Afghanistan, helping to distribute communications and donations to soldiers, in addition to hosting events to make the soldiers feel at home.

¯ Workplace Safety: Thomas Ess, who works as the Emergency Preparedness Coordinator for People Inc., ensuring the safety of and crisis preparedness for people with developmental disabilities special needs and seniors.

¯ Youth Good Samaritan: Maxwell Tenney, who while staying at a hotel in Cleveland, noticed an unmoving child in the pool. Max carried the boy out of the pool and alerted nearby adults, who were able to save the boy’s life.

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