It’s the stuff of nightmares for parents of a newborn. You’re sleep deprived, nerves frayed from caring for the most important thing in your life, and it all disintegrates as quickly as it began. For two Haddonfield parents, this was their nightmare.
But on their worst day, a local hero focused on his training and brought the small family back from edge, as Haddonfield Police Officer Stuart Holloway saved the life of Tim and Christa O’Hara’s now 10-month old daughter Azalea on Jan. 4 of this year.
The young parents, Azalea, members of the Haddonfield Police Department, and friends and family packed borough hall to give thanks to the 12-year veteran of the force, as he was presented with a “Live Saving Award” for his actions on that day.
Mayor Tish Colombi, Commissioner Jeff Kasko, and Police Chief John Banning awarded the officer with a proclamation and a special award for his life saving actions.
“We can’t thank him enough,” Christa said, tears brimming in her eyes. “He’s impacted our lives so much.”
Tim explained that around 7:30 p.m. on Jan. 4, their daughter Azalea began to struggle with her breathing, prompting the young parents to call the 911 to report the emergency. Typically, police officers usually arrive on scene before the EMT’s, and when Holloway arrived at the home he found the young infant turning purple, not breathing at all, and registering no pulse.
“At that point your training just kicks in and you have a job to do,” Holloway said.
It’s actually not a rare occurrence for an officer to have to give CPR to an individual, Holloway said, but because the child was so young it made it a different situation. Through the lifesaving technique Holloway was able to restart the child’s breathing before the EMT’s arrived on the scene and quickly took the child and her parents to a nearby hospital.
Azalea was wide-eyed and healthy at the meeting, perhaps a bit stunned at all of the attention and pictures that were being taken of her. But she must have remembered Holloway, as she didn’t fuss or cry as her parents handed her off to the officer. She clung to the officer as the crowd applauded and tears were wiped away at the touching moment.
Colombi congratulated the officer and said this is a shining example of why Haddonfield police officers stand above the rest.
“I’ve said it many times before, Jeff will agree with me, that we have the best police department in the state,” she said.
