8-year-old helps save little sister

JANN HENDRY/Acorn Newspapers LIFESAVER—By staying calm when her 18-month-old sister Olivia, front, stopped breathing, Luisa Saturnino was able to relay directions for CPR to her mother while taking instructions over the phone from a family friend. The November morning began like any other Saturday in the Saturnino house: Maria Saturnino, 29, and her daughters, 8yearold Luisa and 18month-old Olivia, sang songs and read books in bed before moving into the kitchen.

While Saturnino prepared breakfast, she heard a heavy thud and turned to see Olivia lying unconscious on the kitchen floor, Luisa screaming that her sister wasn't breathing.

Saturnino shook the toddler's limp body and screamed her name, but Olivia didn't respond. Her eyes rolled back, her head moved from side to side, and her lips began to turn blue.

In a panic, Saturnino called Amy Witucki, an acquaintance whose son is a classmate of Luisa's. Saturnino reasoned that calling Witucki, a petty officer in the Navy who would certainly know CPR, would be faster than calling 911.

Witucki convinced the frantic Saturnino to rush Olivia to the hospital, a short drive from their Camarillo Heights home. Saturnino's brother walked in the front door the moment she hung up the phone, and Luisa quickly filled him in on the emergency situation.

The three climbed into the car, with Saturnino in the backseat cradling Olivia in her arms and Luisia by her side. As they pulled out of the driveway, Witucki called back.

She wanted to give Saturnino CPR instructions. Toddlers can go without air for only about four minutes, and about that much time had passed, said Witucki, who received CPR certification from the Navy two days earlier.

Too distraught to talk, Saturnino handed Luisa the phone.

"When I first heard it was Luisa on the phone, I thought, 'Oh, God, this baby is not going to make it," Witucki said. "There is no way I can relay this set of instructions to her by phone—she's only 8."

But Luisia was able to relay Witucki's stepbystep instructions to her near-hysterical mother.

"It was like she had been doing this for years, and she's only 8," Saturnino said.

"I could not believe she was able to do this and keep it together at her age," Witucki said. "It's hard enough to do CPR but to tell an 8-year-old and then have to relay it to another person—that's really hard to do."

Saturnino's second try at resuscitating Olivia got a response—the toddler took a few shallow breaths.

"It felt like forever," Saturnino said. "But feeling her breathe gave me some hope as a desperate mother."

Seconds later, the family arrived at the emergency room. Olivia spent the next two days in the hospital. Doctors determined Olivia had had a seizure as a result of becoming dehydrated from the flu but suffered no permanent damage, Saturnino said.

Witucki was presented with the Navy's Achievement medal and Command Coin for helping to save Olivia's life. Saturnino, Luisa and Olivia attended the surprise awards ceremony earlier this month.

"It was a real special day," Witucki said.

Witucki said the military has trained her to remain cool under pressure, but Luisa, who has had no such training, amazed her by keeping her composure in a life or death situation.

"What I witnessed from my end was a very brave little girl who took charge of a situation," Witucki said. "She was so mature about it and so calm and effective."

"I always tell her she's my special angel from God, and that day really proved it, because she's so strong," Saturnino said of Luisa. "She was really strong the whole time."

Luisa said she was scared in the beginning, seeing Olivia's lips turn blue, but not so much when Witucki was giving her resuscitation instructions to relay to her mother. The third-grader said she relaxed when they arrived at the hospital.

"I knew that they were going to help Olivia," she said.