Community Corner
Seaside Heights Lifeguard Saves Choking Baby's Life
The guard, a Toms River North graduate, was eating lunch on the boardwalk when he heard someone screaming for help.
SEASIDE HEIGHTS, NJ — A Seaside Heights lifeguard is being hailed as a hero after he saved the life of a baby who was choking on a piece of plastic last week.
The Seaside Heights Beach Patrol posted an account of the rescue on its Instagram account, saying lifeguard Pete LaQuaglia was on his lunch break shortly after noon on Friday when he heard screaming and ran to the scene.
"There was a 10-month-old with trouble breathing and ready to fall unconscious," the post said. "Pete knew something was blocking his airway and he was choking."
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LaQuaglia, a 2017 graduate of Toms River High School North, put the baby over his knee, and performed a technique used on babies when they are choking on an object. That involves hitting them on the back between the shoulder blades, hard enough to dislodge something in their throat but without injuring them. (A YouTube video below demonstrates the technique.)
The baby was checked by the Tri-Boro First Aid Squad and "made a full recovery," the post said.
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LaQuaglia told the Asbury Park Press that he was "pretty scared when it was happening," but was relieved to have saved the baby's life.
LaQuaglia, who is in his fifth year as a lifeguard in Seaside Heights, was a first-team All-Shore linebacker on the Toms River North football team and plays football at McDaniel College, where he is studying kinesiology. He told the Asbury Park Press that he plans to the University of Central Florida for the fall.
The beach patrol post praised him as "so cool under pressure. SHBP is so Proud of Pete!"
Commenters on the post praised LaQuaglia as well.
"Yay Pete! You are an angel and a hero!" one wrote. "Outstanding work under pressure! That’s a great lifeguard!" another said.
"Our morning roll call was all about You Better Be Ready to do CPR on an infant," the beach patrol account administrator wrote in a followup comment. "Pretty ironic we saved an infant ... today."
View this post on InstagramAt approximately 12:10 pm SHBP lifeguard Pete Laquaglia was on his break and on the boardwalk when he heard screaming coming from numerous people..He immediately ran to the scene and there was a 10 month old with trouble breathing and ready to fall unconscious..Pete knew something was blocking his airway and he was choking..Pete put the infant over his knee and performed the Heimlich maneuver and dislodged a piece of plastic from the 10 month old..10 month old was ckecked over by the Tri Boro first aid and he made a full recovery. The former 1st team All-Shore linebacker for the Mariners of Toms River North and 5th year guard was so cool under pressure. SHBP is so Proud of Pete!
A post shared by SeasideHeightsBeachPatrol (@beachpatrolseasideheights) on Jun 7, 2019 at 11:24am PDT
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