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Bend paramedic meets boy, 12, whose life he saved

KTVZ

It was a special moment for Ian Nolan. Thursday afternoon, the 12-year-old from Connecticut was reunited with his new hero, a Bend fire paramedic who saved his life earlier this week.

The Nolan family was on vacation visiting family in Central Oregon when a life-threatening incident occurred. On Tuesday afternoon, the boy suffered an allergic reaction that caused him to stop breathing.

His family was rushing him to the hospital — but then the boy went into cardiac arrest, which prompted his parents to make a frantic stop at the fire station in Tumalo.

“I thought I lost him,” mother Carolyn Nolan recalled Thursday.

The firefighters were away, responding to a call, when the family arrived at the fire station.

Off-duty fire engineer and paramedic Scott Seaton was grabbing his fire gear, preparing to go to work the next day, when he heard the cry for help.

“When this car pulled up honking its horn, you can tell it was a high-stress situation for them,” Seaton recalled. “So my first impression was, yes, this was urgent and we need to get help right away.”.

Seaton said the boy had started to turn blue and was not breathing.

The paramedic called for help, but knew he needed to revive the boy quickly.

Seaton gave the boy epinephrine and oxygen until an ambulance arrived.

“I probably wouldn’t have made it to the hospital if Scott wasn’t there,” Ian Nolan said.

The boy was taken to St. Charles Bend, where doctors were able to stabilize him.

“I woke up in the ER with 15 doctors all around me and a nebulizer on my face,” the youth said. “It was quite a scene,”

Carolyn Nolan said she is holding her son a little tighter and thankful for the paramedic who saved her boy.

“We sure were glad he was there, especially given the fact he wasn’t supposed to be there at the time. So he was our angel,” Nolan said.

The boy was released from St. Charles Bend on Wednesday and for a treat made his first-ever visit to Dairy Queen. Friday’s plans: a visit to Seattle’s Space Needle.

Bend Fire and Rescue said they want to remind everyone to call 911 if they’re having a medical emergency before going to a fire station for help.

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