'I'm just glad I was there': Ohio trooper's quick action saves teen's life on turnpike

Sometimes a lot has to go right to save a life.

That's what happened against some odds when a teenage boy suffered a severe allergic reaction while traveling with his family on the Ohio Turnpike in eastern Portage County nearly five months ago.

An Ohio State Highway Patrol trooper responded first to the July 14 emergency call and took action that greatly speeded the teen getting much-needed medical attention.

The trooper was honored at a recognition ceremony Thursday at the highway patrol's Hiram Post 91, with the boy and his family present.

Highway Patrol Superintendent Col. Charles Jones presented Trooper Jose Molina-Mendez with the highway patrol's Distinguished Service Medallion.

"Trooper Molina's quick thinking definitely contributed to why you're sitting here today," Jones said to 16-year-old Antwon Watson. "And we're very, very grateful for that."

Windham Fire Chief Nick Bushek also presented Molina-Mendez with a life saving award from the fire department.

"You deserve everything you get today because you saved his life," Bushek said.

It started with a protein bar

Antwon was traveling with his mother, Akila, sister Adaleigh, 10, and grandmother Carolyn Ramsey from West Virginia to a family reunion in Michigan. He is allergic to fish and uses an EpiPen, which he did not have with him that day.

But what happened had nothing to do with seafood.

Antwon was snacking on a protein bar that contained cashew butter during the family trip when he suddenly started to feel ill.

At the time, no one knew he also was allergic to tree nuts, such as pecans, pistachios, walnuts and cashews.

"I was driving, I gave him the bar, and he said 'Mama, I don't feel good,'" his mother recalled. "I said, 'you're fine' and then his sister said, 'No Mom, he really doesn't look good.'"

Akila said she then saw that her son's face was already severely swollen.

"At that point I'm freaking out," she said. "What do I do?"

She called for help while driving and was told to pull over, at which point Antwon was having trouble breathing.

"I was out there maybe a minute or two and that was when Trooper Mendez pulled up," said Akila.

A long trip ahead

A Windham ambulance with Lt. Jeffrey Scott and Lt. Chris Pekarek was dispatched to the turnpike after receiving the call around noon.

Scott has only been with the department since May, but he's a veteran of more than 38 years in fire and EMS service, including as a now-retired flight paramedic.

Along with being a paramedic, the highest EMS level, he has additional training in emergency medical services for children and experience as an advanced cardiovascular life support/pediatric advanced life support instructor.

Pekarek is an emergency medical technician-advanced, a level just below paramedic. After 22 years in the Army, he joined the fire service, working a short time with the Strongsville Fire Department, then two years with a private ambulance service that had a contract to provide EMS to Warren. He came to Windham about a year ago.

But due to the turnpike's limited access, they were facing a potentially difficult time getting to the location where Akila pulled over. The ambulance would have to enter the turnpike at the Bryant Road service vehicle entrance, travel about 2.5 miles east, then turn around at a highly risky crossover and go back 6 miles to the west. This would add an estimated 10 minutes of travel time over what it would be if a straighter route had been available.

Another service route offered a potentially shorter trip, but the first responders decided it was too risky because they weren't sure about the family's exact location.

But as it turned out, it did not take as long as they thought it would to reach their young patient, thanks to Molina-Mendez.

EMS partners prepare

Molina-Mendez was working out of Hiram at the time — he has since transferred to Ashtabula — and was also on the westbound side, just 3 miles to the east of where the family's car had pulled over.

"I was the closest unit," he said.

This allowed him get on scene quickly and begin relaying information to Scott and Pekarek through dispatch that Antwon's airway was swelling shut.

As Scott and Pekarek were traveling, they went through a process of developing a critical care plan and response so no time would be wasted after they arrived.

"Jeff handled it pretty well," said Pekarek. "Anytime we work together, we always try to, 'Hey, listen, you do this, you do this.' Trying to anticipate so we can go straight to work as soon as we get there. And that proved to be super valuable on this particular call that day."

Scott said that often there is limited information before EMS arrives at the scene, but on this call, they benefited from Molina-Mendez's quick response to the scene and the information he was able to provide about Antwon's condition.

"There was a lot of conversation between myself and Lt. Pekarek," said Scott.

This included preparing an EpiPen in advance, saving about two minutes.

'He needs to go'

As soon as Molina-Mendez saw the teen, he knew they could not wait for the ambulance to get there.

"Even by the time I got there, he was highly swollen," he said. "When I asked him questions, his voice kept getting softer and softer. You could notice he was having a hard time breathing. So I contacted my supervisor and we were talking and, "Hey, he needs to go; he cannot wait here.'

So instead of waiting for the ambulance, Molina-Mendez got Antwon into his cruiser and headed out to meet the emergency medical crew.

"Lucky for him, the trooper made a great decision," said Scott. "Got him in the car, anticipated where we were going to be located, and it couldn't have gone more beautifully."

Just after Scott and Pekarek entered the turnpike from Bryant Road, they saw a highway patrol cruiser coming up quickly from behind and as it drew up alongside, Molina-Mendez signaled them.

"We got pulled over and that's where we landed," said Scott.

Molina-Mendez said it was a matter of continuing west for 3 more miles to the next crossover point and then back east to catch up to the ambulance.

It is estimated that Molina-Mendez's decision shaved eight crucial minutes off the ambulance's response time.

"I'm just glad I was there," he said.

Treatment begins

The boy was immediately placed into the ambulance. Scott began a complete assessment, which made clear the boy's condition was critical. By this point, his breathing was severely labored and his neck and facial were swollen.

While Scott was conducting the assessment, Pekarek administered the EpiPen, but this was only the start of the treatment.

Scott and Pekarek worked to connect IV lines to provide additional medications, including the antihistamine Benadryl, and monitored his vital signs. Meanwhile, Scott also prepared critical airway equipment in case they needed to perform field surgery on his airway.

Although the danger was not over, Antwon was starting to show modest signs of improvement as the ambulance headed to the closest medical center, in Warren, about 15 minutes away.

As they traveled, the boy's breathing continued to improve.

Antwon said he was not scared during the ordeal. His mother said she was scared enough for both of them.

"I was very frightened," she said. "He was very, very calm. I was very frantic. I think he was more concerned about us. He was telling us to get back into the car and relax."

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Reporter Jeff Saunders can be reached at jsaunders@recordpub.com.

This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Ohio Highway Patrol trooper's fast action saves teen on turnpike