Man gets joyous reunion with paramedic who rescued him on US 89


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BOUNTIFUL — As 11-year-old William Crawford stood at the side of U.S. 89 and watched CPR being performed on his father, he felt powerless.

"All I could do is wait," William recalled Thursday. "It was kind of like — 'Is this really happening? What if he dies? What if he lives?'"

William did his best to keep his wits about him.

"Stay calm. Don't panic," he remembers telling himself.

William's father, Ray Crawford, was suffering from acute heart failure on the morning of Jan. 19. The Kaysville man became unresponsive and his car, with his son in the backseat, came to a near-crawl on U.S. 89 in Farmington.

But thanks to the heroics of Unified Fire Authority paramedic E.J. Hinterman, Crawford was alive Thursday to meet and give thanks to the man who saved him.

"He's responsible for me being here," said Crawford, of Kaysville, who was recovering Thursday in good condition at Lakeview Hospital in Bountiful. "Without him, my family would be without a dad. It was humanly impossible for him to be there any quicker than he was."

Hinterman was driving south on his way to work at the time. He was about to merge onto I-15 when he noticed Crawford's erratic vehicle, then saw him slumped over the steering wheel.

"He was in cardiac arrest, I knew that," Hinterman said.

Within just a few moments, Hinterman was able to get out of his vehicle, catch up with Crawford's car, instruct the boy to unlock the front driver's side door, pull the car to a "bouncing, screeching halt" and shield it from traffic with his own vehicle. He told William to move away from traffic as he began CPR.

Hinterman has a son around William's age, so he immediately felt empathy for the boy, he said. Even as he performed compression-only CPR, he was able to give the boy directions to speak with 911 dispatchers.

"I said, 'Just tell them what you see,'" Hinterman recalled. "He said, 'I don't like what I see.' I said, 'I don't either, buddy.'"

Although that 911 call somehow dropped, Hinterman credits the boy for saving his dad's life when he had the presence of mind to unlock the car door while the vehicle was still moving. Another passerby also called 911, and more paramedics arrived.

"He was able to contain himself and follow my directions," Hinterman said of William.

William Crawford, 11, middle, holds a coin he had been given by EJ Hinerman, Medical Specialist for the Unified Fire Authority when he reunited with the Crawford family at Lakeview Hospital in Bountiful on Thursday, Jan. 26, 2017. (Photo: Nicole Boliaux, Deseret News)
William Crawford, 11, middle, holds a coin he had been given by EJ Hinerman, Medical Specialist for the Unified Fire Authority when he reunited with the Crawford family at Lakeview Hospital in Bountiful on Thursday, Jan. 26, 2017. (Photo: Nicole Boliaux, Deseret News)

After six minutes of CPR from Hinterman and two defibrillator shocks from the arriving paramedics, Crawford began to revive. He was hospitalized in critical condition, but has been making a strong recovery over the past week, with no brain damage.

On Thursday, Crawford, his wife and son met with Hinterman and exchanged hugs in a joyous meeting at Lakeview Hospital. Crawford grew emotional as he thanked Hinterman for keeping him alive.

"If I had died, I would have left a lot of unfinished business behind. ... I'm thankful we have professionals like these guys," he said, gesturing to Hinterman.

Allie Crawford, Ray's wife, was in Argentina when she received the news that her husband was in grave condition. Her intercontinental trip to her husband's side took about 24 hours, during which time she had little information about whether he was recovering.

"It was really painful, excruciating," she said. "For a moment, I thought I had lost everything."

Allie Crawford said the meeting with Hinterman was a special chance for the family to show their gratitude and to acknowledge "a lot of miracles along the way" that saved her husband's life.

"We wanted to say thank you," she said. "He saved our family. He gave our family a second chance."

EJ Hinerman, Medical Specialist for the Unified Fire Authority laughs with the Crawford family as he reunites with Raymond Crawford at Lakeview Hospital in Bountiful on Thursday, Jan. 26, 2017. (Photo: Nicole Boliaux, Deseret News)
EJ Hinerman, Medical Specialist for the Unified Fire Authority laughs with the Crawford family as he reunites with Raymond Crawford at Lakeview Hospital in Bountiful on Thursday, Jan. 26, 2017. (Photo: Nicole Boliaux, Deseret News)

Hinterman thanked 11-year-old William with a pair of commemorative Unified Fire Authority "challenge coins," including one that he said is a "coveted item" only given to those who save another person's life.

The first responder of 22 years said he was grateful to be with the man he had rescued.

"A lot of times, you don't know the outcome" of paramedic calls, he said.

When he's dispatched to an emergency, Hinterman said, he can "prepare mentally" for a crisis, but "it was a different situation entirely" happening upon it as a bystander.

"I had never had a moment like this," he said. "I (just did) what I needed to do."

Contributing: Alex Cabrero

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