"Please... Save My Baby!" 


Thoughts and memories of a tragic accident 
by Phil Konstantin 



Most people think, "That will never happen to me." But it does happen, and usually 
when we least expect it. A child can't make the decisionfor him/herself to buckle up. 
But you can save your child's life — and your own — by buckling up every time you get 
into a car.Don't allow yourself or your child to become one of these statistics. 


It's been six years now, but I still have vivid memories of that summer day. 


I was driving out of the San Gabriel Mountains toward San Bernardino a few hours 
before sunset. The road twisted and turned sharply with the mountain cozying up to 
the asphalt most of the way. Being close to the city, this area was a favorite spot 
for valley locals to come to unwind, sip a few beers, wade in the creek and cool off 
from the heat and smog of the valley floor. 


One blind curve leads to another, and I had just rounded one when I noticed some 
automobile debris in the middle of the road. Slowing down, I spotted an older model 
coupe upside-down, so I quickly parked on the narrow shoulder. 


Another passerby and I ran to the car, which held two adults in the front seat and two 
children in the back. The gas tank had ruptured and gasoline was leaking into the car. 
Ordinarily, I wouldn't move anyone who was injured, but I was afraid the car was going 
to explode. Both adults appeared seriously injured but we got them out of the car as 
quickly and carefully as we could. 


The injured woman was yelling for her baby as the other passerby pulled a 4-year-old 
child out of the back seat. I went back to get the 18-month-old baby, who was very scared 
and crying as he hung upside-down in his child safety seat. 


At this point, I was having a hard time seeing because the gasoline kept getting into 
my eyes. But I grabbed the baby, quickly unfastened his seat belt and ran from the car. 
With the amount of gas that had leaked out, I was sure the car was going to explode. 


Meanwhile, the other rescuer was trying to keep the injured woman from crawling blindly 
into the road looking for her child. I took the baby to her, then went to move the 4-year-
old farther away from the overturned vehicle. But now I could see that the child's face 
was purple. He was covered with blood and his head was tilted to one side. By this time, 
more people had stopped and they were taking care of the other occupants. 


I had just recently completed a CPR course, so I quickly determined that the child had 
no pulse and he was not breathing. Also, it looked like his neck had been broken. I started 
CPR on him and about two minutes later a San Bernardino sheriff's deputy arrived and took over. 


I decided to go back about a mile to the home of a friend, who was a trained emergency 
medical technician. As I was leaving, a distraught woman drove up to the scene screaming 
about her child. I found out later that the 4-year-old was hers and he had been riding 
with some of her friends. When the woman spotted her little boy, it took several men to 
restrain her so the deputy could continue CPR. 


As I pulled into my friend's driveway, local paramedics passed me in response to the 
deputy's radio call for assistance. Knowing they could handle everything, I stopped 
just long enough to wash the gasoline out of my eyes and the blood off my face and hands, 
then returned to the scene. 


I had been working strictly on instinct, but now the full weight of the situation hit 
me. The child on whom I performed CPR was the same age as my own daughter. This single 
thought brought on additional anxiety and I could feel my stomach churning, my heart 
aching. 


Thirty minutes had passed since the accident happened and, back at the scene, all the 
victims had been taken to the hospital. I stopped and asked the deputy about the child. 
He said that he and paramedics had continued CPR for 20 minutes before the child was 
declared dead. 


The deputy then explained how the accident occurred. He said the driver had swerved 
to avoid a small rock in the roadway and the car had overturned several times. The 
only occupant wearing a seat belt was the infant in the child safety seat. Both adults 
had sustained multiple fractures, serious concussions and internal injuries, and the 
4-year-old's neck was broken as all three were tossed around in the car as it flipped 
end-over-end. However, the only injuries to the baby were small cuts on both of his ears. 


A few weeks after this collision, I entered the California Highway Patrol Academy. 
Subsequently, I have seen thousands of collisions, but I've seen only one accident 
where wearing a seat belt might have caused more injuries than not wearing a belt. 


Most people think, "That will never happen to me." But it does happen, and usually 
when we least expect it. A child can't make the decision for him/herself to buckle 
up. But you can save the child's life — and your own — by buckling up every time you 
get into a car. Don't allow yourself or your child to become one of these statistics


CHP Magazine October 1991