Subscribe
Community
Boy reunites with North Beach volunteer rescuers
7-year-old needed plastic surgery after falling through glass window
Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2009
 Click here to enlarge this photo Submitted photo
North Beach volunteer firefighters Dave Devere, John Gott Jr., Eric Peterson, Kevin Lawton, Sara Devere and John Gott Sr. surround Tyler Smith, 7, to whom they all attended after he fell through a plate glass window on Oct. 7.
|
E-Mail This Article
Becky Clatterbuck of Chesapeake Beach said that her 7-year-old son Tyler Smith always had to do everything big.
"He doesn't get a cold, he gets pneumonia … he doesn't get a cut, he gets this," Clatterbuck said.
The "this" to which she was referencing were the injuries Tyler sustained on Oct. 7 when he was sitting on a fence at his Chesapeake Beach home and leaning against a plate glass window that eventually gave way, causing the Beach Elementary School student to fall through.
The glass caused Tyler to lacerate both corners of his mouth and his left forearm, said North Beach volunteer firefighter Eric Peterson.
"Surprisingly, he was completely with it. He was shocked, but for a kid his own age he was doing well," said Peterson of when he first got to Tyler, who he said was already applying pressure to his injuries.
On Saturday at the firehouse, a shy but healthy looking Tyler and his mom were reunited with Peterson, as well as Dave Devere, Sarah Devere, John Gott Sr., John Gott Jr. and Kevin Lawton, all of whom attended to Tyler.
Sarah Devere, Dave's daughter and a member of the North Beach Volunteer Fire Department's high school program, said that Tyler's accident was the first pediatric case with which she assisted.
"It was kind of nerve wracking," she said, adding that Tyler's calmness reflected over to herself.
"He wasn't crying — he's a strong guy, a trooper," Sarah Devere said, adding that when working with children, "We have to get on their level and talk to them in ways they'd understand and help explain the situation."
Lawton said that situation was pretty clear to him when he saw the extent of Tyler's injuries.
"When I saw him it looked like he needed medical attention that the hospital could only do; we couldn't fix him there," Lawton said.
Tyler was initially taken to Calvert Memorial Hospital in Prince Frederick and later to Children's Hospital in Washington, D.C., when it was decided that he would need plastic surgery on his face and a skin graft on his arm.
Clatterbuck said that even with the surgery there will be some initial scarring on Tyler's face though it is expected to fade with time.
"After surgery I hugged his surgeon and said he deserves every fat paycheck he got," she laughed.
In fact, she said Tyler has been healing faster than expected, so much so that he would be able to attend school this week.
"We thought we were going to need to home-school, but he just started healing so quickly he doesn't need it," Clatterbuck said.
As for Tyler, despite being ready to see his friends at school, he said that the time off wasn't too bad because, "I can play games and stuff on the [Sony ]Play Station."
However, the emotional healing is not completely over, as Clatterbuck said her son is "still shaken" and not ready to discuss the accident yet.
She did, however, say that much of the healing that has occurred so far can be attributed to the North Beach Volunteer Fire Department.
"Everyone around here, they were amazing. It was the most stressful thing I've ever been through and they not only helped him, they helped me, too."
