St. Charles North graduate grateful for lifesaving CPR skills
Mary Kate Phillips knew a life depended on her, but she never panicked.
Instead, her training kicked in as 8-year-old Brooke Baumann — unable to breathe — lay outside on the ground in their St. Charles neighborhood. Brooke's mother and others had tried using the Heimlich maneuver to dislodge the breakfast food caught in the youngster's throat but to no avail.
To a person, though, everyone knew where to turn.
Phillips' parents, Aaron and Erin, raced to get 18-year-old Mary Kate from inside their house across the street. With a CPR mask she'd only practiced with in the past, the recent St. Charles North graduate tuned out the chaos and began performing CPR on the child.
Phillips' technique worked. By the time paramedics arrived, Brooke's airway was freed and before long she was back to normal.
A scary moment taught a lesson that'd been drilled into Phillips' head for two years. Learning CPR saves lives.
“You go through all that training but you never expect something like that to happen,” she said. “I was just leaning on my training.”
Now a freshman at Ball State University in Indiana, Phillips still thinks about that July morning and remains grateful for the CPR training she received from St. Charles North teacher Rob Rooney through the school's PE Leaders program.
When Rooney starts a semester, he tells the story of former students who needed to use CPR in real-life situations. Phillips, who was a mentor for the PE Leaders program her senior year, became Rooney's story at the start of this semester.
“Thank God she was there at the time,” Rooney said. “It's just awesome that she had that retention of the information and the ability to act as an adult.
“For us to have this program at the high-school level and teach the kids this skill, and to have someone benefit from it, it's a massive thing for this community,” he said. “I'm very proud of the program and of students like her.”
As a swimmer at St. Charles North, and now Ball State, Phillips initially became involved with PE Leaders to do something fun and different. But between the CPR, lifeguard and first-aid certification she achieved through PE Leaders, she's filled with knowledge that will last her a lifetime.
“I'm so glad I took those classes,” Phillips said. “I think everyone should be CPR-certified because you never know what's going to happen. You never know when you'll be in that situation.”
Phillips certainly never expected to be in that situation with Brooke, a girl she's known for years. Phillips even taught Brooke how to swim.
“I think we're a lot closer because of this,” Phillips said. “I saw her a lot over the summer.”
In August, Phillips received the Citizen's Lifesaving Award from St. Charles Mayor Ray Rogina and representatives from the St. Charles Fire Department. Neighbors stopped by to thank and congratulate Phillips for her actions, and they decorated her driveway with positive messages.
Most important, though, was a special visitor.
“Brooke was all good the next day,” Phillips said. “She came over and gave me a big hug.”
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