Firefighter heralded for saving infant girl

In a span of about 24 hours Little Rock firefighter Brody Channell met President Barack Obama and helped save the life of a 9-month-old infant he saw turning blue on the side of a Maryland interstate.

On Sunday, Channell, 30, and his wife were on Interstate 270 headed to Washington, D.C., after attending the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Service in Emmitsburg, Md. Channell, who was driving, noticed cars pulled over on the left side of the road.

Montgomery County, Md., police officer James Hermon said he was conducting a traffic stop Sunday afternoon when a man ran up to him with an infant, screaming that the baby was not breathing, the Associated Press reported. The baby's skin appeared to have turned slightly blue.

Channell said he saw the child, who looked limp, in the arms of the man so he pulled over, jumped over a little barrier and offered to help.

Hermon had started CPR and Channell assisted him. They cleared the child's mouth of any choking hazard and continued CPR until the child started to come around and become more lively, regaining consciousness and coloring.

"She's looking at the officer and me like, 'What's going on? Why are you all here?'" Channell said.

Paramedics arrived and took the infant to a nearby hospital. Channell told Hermon "good job." Hermon thanked Channell for the help. Then Channell got back in his car and drove on to Washington.

The infant was later identified as Kenzlee Mae Cushman of West Virginia. Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Battalion Chief Stephen E. Mann said the girl is recovering and is likely still alive thanks to Hermon and Channell.

Channell has been receiving lots of attention thanks in part to a Facebook post written by a friend who heard about Sunday's events and knew Channell was in that area. The friend sent Channell a text asking if he was the out-of-state firefighter identified in media reports.

"Yeah, that was me," Channell told him. His friend responded by writing about it on Facebook.

Since then even The Washington Post has called to interview him.

Channell, who has been a firefighter since 2003 and with the Little Rock Fire Department for about 18 months, said he isn't sure why this act has gotten so much attention when it's what first responders are trained to do.

"I've done this before," Channell said. "You see somebody who needs help, you stop and help. It's the Arkansas thing to do."

When he stopped, Channell had been returning from the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Service where his father was honored. Dennis Channell was a volunteer firefighter in Poyen for more than 20 years before he had a stroke while out on a call. He died Feb. 10, 2014.

At the memorial, all of the fallen firefighters were honored. Each family was given a flag that flew over the U.S. Capitol, as well as a shield. They all met President Obama, Channell said.

"We're never really off-duty," Channell said of firefighters. "If we see someone who needs help, we're going to stop and help someone."

Still, he said he wouldn't mind if the next few days were a little less eventful.

On Tuesday night Channell was back in Little Rock and watching Scooby-Doo with his 18-month-old child.

Information for this report was provided by The Associated Press.

Metro on 10/07/2015