Pharmacy Student Helps Save Young Boy's Life

A pharmacy student’s quick thinking helped save a 2-year-old Ohio boy on January 30, 2015, according to the Dayton Daily News.

Damaris Pearson was washing dishes when a sudden thought popped into her head that compelled her to check on her young son, Josiah. She found him staring at the ceiling with clenched teeth, not responding to her voice, and not breathing. Damaris said she thought Josiah was about to get sick, but instead, the boy started to go limp and blue.

“I started to panic, totally panic,” Damaris told the Dayton Daily News. “I didn’t know what to do.”

Her first thought was to run to a neighbor’s house. Next door, Josh Arnold, a student in the School of Pharmacology at Cedarville, heard a knock on his door.

Arnold happened to be certified in basic life support during his studies and had just become recertified in the fall. He went into action to try to help Josiah.

“I could see his whole body was limp,” Arnold told the Dayton Daily News. “I could see the purple hue to his face. His lips were blue.”

Arnold looked for a pulse, began administering CPR, and then told Damaris to call the police. Shortly after, police and paramedics arrived.

The hospital staff said Josiah’s temperature had reached a dangerous level, and his body was going into shock, which had caused a seizure.

“We are grateful to say that our son is back on the road to being his normal, happy self,” Damaris’ husband, Joshua, who wrote to Cedarville about Arnold’s actions, told the Dayton Daily News.