ALLY AND DANNY DRABBLE didn’t take their 6-year-old son, Dillon, to his end-of-season baseball party with the intention of becoming heroes. But unpredictable circumstances compelled the couple to draw on their education, training, skills and faith in God to save the life of Dillon’s 7-year-old teammate, Mondo.

An afternoon of carefree fun at a local swimming pool turned traumatic when Mondo failed to surface after rolling off the edge of the pool into the water where he didn’t realize the water was over his head. The team coaches were along the edge of the pool playing splash ball with their young team members when they realized Mondo failed to come out of the water. At first, observers thought the boy was joking around but got concerned as they called to him and he remained underwater.

One coach jumped into the pool, grabbed Mondo and brought his limp body out of the water, placing him on the pool’s edge. Recalling his CPR training, the coach gave Mondo a breath as Sally and Danny approached. The couple had walked down a hill nearby to look at a cabin and, as they were returning, realized something was amiss.

The coach immediately relinquished care of Mondo to Sally and Danny, recalling their medical backgrounds. Sally is a registered nurse with CHRISTUS St. Michael Emergency Services, and Danny is a paramedic with LifeNet. Their instincts kicked in, and they began two-person CPR, trying to revive Mondo. Sally directed someone to call 911, and Danny asked the baseball parents to get on their knees and start praying.

“After two cycles of CPR, we still didn’t have a pulse, but with the third cycle, we retrieved a pulse and he gasped for air,” Sally says. “However, he wasn’t very responsive initially, and I gave him more breaths in an attempt to raise his alertness.”

“I kept questioning him and asking him his mother’s name,” Sally recalls. “When
Mondo finally answered, ‘Dorothy,’ you could hear a collective sigh of relief. The coach turned to Dorothy and said, ‘I guess that’s the best word you ever heard.’”

Sally rode in the ambulance with Mondo to CHRISTUS St. Michael, where Patrick Weber, M.D., and the ER staff took over his care. After two days in the ICU, the baseball player was released with no side effects from his accident, aside from frightening memories. A week later, Mondo joined his teammates at their rescheduled pizza party, where they commemorated more than the close of their baseball season—they celebrated life.

“I’m thankful God allowed me to experience this miracle,” Sally says. “It puts a whole new perspective on things. I give credit to our training, skills, education and experience, but the glory definitely goes to God.”

Francine Francis
communications manager
CHRISTUS St. Michael Health System