Soldier’s training enables him to help save his ‘little buddy’s’ life

Soldier’s training enables him to help save his ‘little buddy’s’ life
Oct 2, 2012
Rose L Thayer
Herald staff writer
FORT HOOD — It was a typical Friday night for the Polanco family.

Their two kids were in bed and they had another couple over watching TV in their on-post home Sept. 21 when Christina Polanco heard a “weird screeching sound” from where her 3-year-old son was sleeping upstairs.

“Christian was under the blanket on my bed ... clutching his throat,” recalled Polanco. “I screamed for my husband and carried him downstairs.”

Her husband, Spc. Louis Polanco, assumed the child had swallowed something in his sleep and was trying to pull it out with his finger. Nothing was there.

“When he went limp ... I didn’t know how to react,” he said. “I lost it.”

Christina Polanco said her instincts told her to hold and beat on the toddler’s back to loosen whatever might be blocking his airway.

Meanwhile, Christian’s face began to turn blue and he panicked as he tried to gasp for air. At one point he lost consciousness.

Spc. Matt Kutz kept his head clear during the panic of the scared parents and called 911 for his friends.
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