COOK- Joe Froehlingsdorf, of Cook, got the only reward he so desperately wanted when he saved the life of his infant daughter Amelia last September, but the St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office and Board of Commissioners thought he deserved a little bit more.
At Tuesday’s Board of Commissioners meeting, Sheriff Gordon Ramsay presented Froehlingsdorf with a 911 Lifesaver Award for his heroic deed.
As Froehlingsdorf recalled the incident for a county press release about the award, he looked at his daughter Amelia and thought that life had left her one-week-old body – she had stopped breathing. When asked what happened as the call to 911 was placed Froehlingsdorf, a man of deep Christian faith, simply answered that, “God was in control.”
As a coach, Froehlingsdorf had been trained in CPR, but never really expected to have to perform CPR in a real-life emergency, particularly with his own family. But Froehlingsdorf was able to rely on that training as he sought to save his newborn daughter, providing CPR for several minutes, which seems like a lifetime for anyone who has had to perform CPR on a loved-one, until thankfully, Amelia took a gasping breath on her own.
As Sheriff’s Deputy Adam Marwick arrived on scene, Froehlingsdorf had already started running down his long driveway in hopes of getting Amelia to the responding Cook Area Ambulance as soon as possible. In addition to the Cook Ambulance, a Virginia paramedic unit, as well as an air medical helicopter were contacted by St. Louis County 911 telecommunicators to respond, eventually assisting the Cook Ambulance upon their arrival at the Cook Hospital.
“Because of Joe’s efforts, and the skilled assistance of the EMTs, paramedics, flight nurse, hospital staff and sheriff deputies, Amelia has made a full recovery and is a happy one-year-old child,” said Sheriff Ramsay. “I would like to also mention the work by St. Louis County 911 Telecommunications Landon Cadigan and Char Thompson as well as a thank you to Deputy Adam Marwick for his actions during this incident.”
Amazingly, this was Froehlingsdorf’s second time being honored for helping save a life. At the age of ten, he was recognized for helping save a woman who had crashed on the ice on Lake Vermilion. He recalls the Lt. Governor came to his school in Virginia to recognize him and his friend Steve, who was also honored for the same incident.
Yet it’s entirely likely that Froehlingsdorf would have had both of those awards be given instead to the God who was in control and made his life-saving efforts possible, for such is the way of the truly faithful.