Las Vegas mom uses CPR training to save son’s life

By Regina Ahn

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    LAS VEGAS (KVVU) — Within seconds, Danielle Pexa’s whole world stopped.

“It was like slow motion, but I was very calm through it,” said Pexa. She says her instincts kicked in, and within a few seconds she ran over to help her son, who was choking. It was all caught on the camera installed in their kitchen.

Her son, Grayson, just two years old, was choking on a piece of an egg.

“I literally picked him up, turned him over and gave him two big hits on the back and by the second one everything was out,” said Pexa.

Pexa is the operations manager for Wynn Nightlife at Encore Beach Club, where employees receive mandatory CPR training. In a moment like this, she’s grateful for it.

“I cannot tell you what I would’ve done,” Pexa said. “We all know how to do a Heimlich maneuver, but to do it on a child is completely different.”

When a person is choking, the brain has approximately four minutes before damage is done and seven minutes before irreversible damage is inflicted.

The Red Cross offers training, which Pexa says is a valuable tool. Rachel Flanigan with the Red Cross said that learning CPR is fairly simple and takes a few hours. “You never know when it’s going to be necessary,” said Pexa.

“We have some various opportunities for people to learn these skills,” said Flanigan. “We have the certified courses with a trainer at The Red Cross, we also have our community-based programs, our hands-on CPR where we will teach that specific skillset for free.”

She says having this training will come in when you least expect it.

“A lot of times we don’t think about it, people have heart attacks while grocery shopping, and people collapse in various activities and that’s why having these lifesaving skills is extremely important,” she added.

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