'Babe, he's gone'

COEUR d'ALENE — Newlyweds Carson and Caitlyn Ames expected Sunday, Aug. 2 to be much like any other.

It was. And then, they saved a life.

The couple planned on visiting a friend and then heading to Lake Coeur d’Alene that sunny afternoon.

“I think everyone had the same idea because the beach was completely packed with people when we arrived," Carson said.

The couple, both members of the 141st Air Refueling Wing, Washington Air National Guard, were enjoying a day in the lake when Carson noticed a man face down close to the shore in about 12 inches of water.

After watching for a few seconds, he knew something was wrong.

“Babe, I’m going to give this guy about 10 seconds,” he said to his wife.

Carson picked up the man and brought him to shore. After he flipped him over he immediately noticed his face was blue.

“Babe, he’s gone," he said to his wife.

It was then Caitlyn’s military CPR training instincts quickly kicked in.

“He had no pulse, wasn’t breathing, and his face was completely blue,” Caitlyn said, recalling how distressed the victim appeared when she started treating him. “The first breath I gave to the victim caused water from his lungs to shoot up into my mouth, but I just kept going. I felt like I was in a tunnel and was not aware of anything going on around me.”

Carson and Caitlyn didn't know how long the victim had been underwater and not breathing.

“When you see something going wrong, you have to do what you can to help,” said Caitlyn. “The beach was packed with people, and the fact that no one else had noticed was surprising to us. Being in the military has helped us both become more situationally aware and attuned to things others might not notice.”

A passerby, a level one medic, helped her count compressions and perform rescue breaths.

“After starting my second set of compressions I got to number 27 and he took a big deep gasp of air,” Caitlyn said. “After that, I was in a bit of shock because none of us thought he was going to come back; he looked dead.”

“Without CPR training through the military, I would have had no idea how to perform these life-saving measures at all,” Caitlyn said.

As soon as the man started breathing, the duo flipped him onto his side, trying to get the rest of the water out.

“You could hear the water in his lungs. Every breath sounded like it was bubbling,” Caitlyn said, “I had my hand on his back and I could feel the water swishing around in his lungs — that’s how we knew he had swallowed a lot of water and had truly drowned.”

She and the passerby medic stayed with the man while Carson and others waved down a passing fire truck.

EMTs gave him oxygen and an IV and he started moving his arms first and then began asking what had happened, Caitlyn said.

The couple reached out to the man, who has ties to Coeur d'Alene, the following week and found that he had made a full recovery.

“It just feels good that we were able to help out and make a difference in someone else’s life. We’re just thankful for that," she said.

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Kayleigh Phillips is with the 141st Air National Guard, public affairs.