by Bailey White
Staff Writer
Several days after he saved a two-year-old boy from drowning, attorney Michael Leahy can’t stop thinking about the little things that lead up to the event.
“I keep thinking about all the events that put me there right at that moment,” he said.
Leahy, an attorney with Moseley, Warren, Prichard and Parrish, pulled into his driveway Saturday afternoon to find a frantic neighbor searching for her son.
“I was home from a soccer game with my boys and starting jogging around the neighborhood to look for him,” he said.
After a few minutes, Leahy grabbed a bike to continue to search. He spotted a neighborhood dog that had been playing with the child, coming out from behind two houses.
“The dog was muddy and wet,” said Leahy.
Behind the houses, Leahy saw the little boy floating face up in a still pond.
Wired with adrenaline, Leahy pulled the boy from the water and began administering cardiopulmonary resuscitation, trying to empty his lungs of water.
When the boy’s father arrived several minutes later, he and Leahy took turns administering breaths to the child and managed to get him breathing.
“It was very labored breathing. Right before the ambulance arrived, he started crying, which we took as a very good sign,” he said.
Back at home, Leahy’s family was waiting to hear what had happened.
“One of the fireman told my boys to give me extra hugs since I had saved a child’s life,” said Leahy. “They were just excited because they got to go with me to the fire station to deliver my statement.”
Leahy, who learned rescue skills while attending the United States Merchant Marine Academy, had never called upon his CPR training before.
“I keep thinking about the number of coincidences that got me home at the exact moment that the boy’s mother was outside,” he said.
Leahy said he and his sons were going camping, but decided not to at the last minute.
“I also keep thinking about what would have happened if I hadn’t seen the dog,” he said. “It is scary because this could happen to any parent. I am just so glad that it worked out the way it did. It was a very weird day.”