Red Cross and Heart Association Honor Local Youth Heroes

JD Vance, Calvin Vance, and Lily Dauphinais with their awards. WINDHAM VANCE PHOTO

It was a typical August day in Connecticut, hot and humid. Southington students were back getting ready for the school year - among them, members of the Blue Knights Marching Band, which doesn’t get a lot of time off. When the chance came for a break, some band members went to cool off in the favorite place for residents of the suburbs: a backyard pool.

After the typical splashing and fun, suddenly something happened that wasn’t so typical. A friend who had jumped in was still underwater, near the pool’s bottom. Lily Dauphinais was the first to speak up. Maybe a kid would practice holding their breath underwater, she thought, but not for this long.

Calvin Vance dove in for his friend, pulling him up onto the deck. The friend’s body didn’t look right, his lips were blue. On the deck of the pool, JD Vance began CPR. This was a skill that he and his brother had first learned through scouting. A relatively simple skill, it can make the difference between brain trauma and total recovery.

Lily called 911 and described for emergency operators their location and the situation. Calm under pressure, she went to friends around the pool who were understandably shaken up by what was happening and reassured them.

The EMS professionals arrived in short order to help further secure the situation.

The friend has since made a total recovery.

Scouting holds a Court of Honor ceremony for important accomplishments such as gaining a rank or earning a merit badge. On March 17, at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Southington, the ceremony was held for the trio who likely saved a life through their quick, decisive actions.

Representatives of the American Red Cross, which offers regular CPR trainings in most communities in America, were on hand to commend the youths for their actions on that atypical day.

JD and Lily received the Red Cross Certificate of Extraordinary Personal Action, while Calvin received the Red Cross Certificate of Merit. Calvin’s distinction was due to his having learned his skills in a Red Cross course he took to become certified as a lifeguard. All three applied their knowledge in the service of another during an emergency when seconds mattered, in keeping with long-established traditions of both Scouting and the Red Cross.

As Red Cross Chief Development Officer Kiersten Sieser noted, Red Cross’s overarching mission is to help “alleviate human suffering.” In this case, JD, Lily and Calvin accomplished that by “having the confidence in their skills to make the difference.”

“They saw what the situation was and just jumped into action,” remarked Red Cross Regional Communications Director Jocelyn Hillard.

Sieser mentioned that becoming CPR-certified is easier than ever, as some of the training can now be done online.

A second commendation came from the American Heart Association. Michael Wellington, who presented the award, is an EMS Coordinator at the Portchester-Rye EMS and an Assistant Scoutmaster with local Troop 45. He teaches the First Aid merit badge course and presented the Heart Saver Hero Award from the American Heart Association to JD and Calvin. In the commendation, the Boy Scouts were said to “embody the true spirit of a lifesaver” by having both “the proper training and the will to act.”

Wellington also teaches the Search and Rescue merit badge for the Troop, which was awarded to several Scouts later in the ceremony.

Windham and Sabina Vance, parents of the boys, are both Scout leaders. Even for them, the events of that day were shocking. “I’m just so thankful that they had the wherewithal to act,” Sabina said.

‘Scouts in Action,’ was a comic strip that used to run in every issue in Boys’ Life magazine, the organization’s publication. Each featured situations similar to this one: a person falling through ice, slipping off a cliff, getting struck by a car, or being in proximity to an attempted crime. Scouting’s motto Be Prepared means to be ready for situations just like this: a friend not moving in a pool. They lived the motto.

Awareness, readiness, and knowledge all combined that day to save a life.

The humble heroes are grateful mostly about the recovery their friend made.

“It was a group effort,” said JD, “I’m just happy he’s back in action.”