Hazleton boy, 8, saves sister's life

Mar. 31—Jaxson Dempsey is only 8 years old, but he's credited with saving his baby sister's life.

The Hazleton boy did so by performing the Heimlich maneuver, a skill he learned from watching a Nickelodeon show almost a year ago.

"He's just a special boy. We've said that ever since he was a baby," said Jaxson's mother, Kristen Durso.

Durso explained that her fiancé and the children's father, Matthew Dempsey, picked up 20-month-old Leila Dempsey from preschool last week. With Jaxson in the car, the trio was heading to an appointment for haircuts.

Along the way, Matthew picked up lunch from the McDonald's drive-thru window.

"Leila always gets chicken nuggets. She eats them perfectly fine. He got his food and handed her a nugget," Kristen explained. "He noticed as she was eating, she started choking."

Jaxson was in the backseat with Leila.

"I have good hearing and I was just listening to music and I heard this," he said, as he made a series of choking noises. "And I heard her choking."

And that's when he reflected back on an episode of "The Substitute" starring WWE superstar John Cena. In it, Cena gave a lesson on CPR and the Heimlich.

"The scene came into my mind," Jaxson said. "And I sprung into action to save a life."

He unbuckled his safety belt and reached over to Leila. He wiggled her forward, placed his hand behind her back and hit her three times.

"If I didn't see that show. If I didn't unbuckle, she would be dead," Jaxson said.

"Within the time he screamed for my fiancé to pull over the car — they said it was only seconds but it seemed much longer — he was able to get it dislodged and she spit it out," Kristen said.

"My dad told me I saved her life," Jaxson added.

Matthew had no idea Jaxson knew the Heimlich maneuver. Neither did Kristen.

"I remember specifically watching this episode with my son," Kristen said, "because John Cena was on and we watch wrestling."

She guessed that the two watched the episode at least a year ago.

"My son remembered this and did this, and lo and behold, he used it for a good purpose," Kristen said.

Jaxson's grandmother, Betsy Durso, recalled coming home from work the day of the incident.

"He was so proud of himself," she said. "He said, 'Nana, you aren't going to believe this. I saved Leila today.'"

She said the entire family is proud of him.

"I had no idea that he could do that," she said. "He learned it from television. He's like a little sponge. He's always absorbing everything he sees."

Kristen said her son is very caring and believes he wouldn't have hesitated to save anyone.

"It wouldn't matter if it was his sister, me or his dad, We see him interact with his friends and he's always so protective of them," she said.

Jaxson's story was picked up by NickALive!, a blog that carries Nickelodeon-related news.

In knowing that he saved his sister's life, and that his story is getting around, Jaxson said he feels "hyped."

"It makes me feel happy inside, and happy on the outside also. I'm happy in my brain," he said.

Contact the writer: jwhalen@standardspeaker.com; 570-501-3592.