WAYLAND, Mass. (AP/WHDH) — A team of firefighters from Wayland, Massachusetts, is being praised for coming to the aid of a woman about 800 miles away in Wayland, Michigan, who contacted them via Facebook in a panic to say her son was choking.
The Massachusetts department’s Facebook page isn’t monitored 24/7, but firefighter Patrick Walkinshaw happened to be looking at it about 10:30 p.m. Saturday when the woman, who didn’t have access to a phone, sent her desperate plea to the wrong Wayland Fire Department.
Michele Froman Rock sent the instant message on Facebook saying her son, Andrew, was choking on chicken and she was unable to give him the Heimlich maneuver. She then gave her address.
Firefighters Dean Casali and William Tyree knew something was wrong because they didn’t recognize the address.
While one Massachusetts firefighter did a search for the woman’s address, another stayed with her on Facebook, and a third called the Michigan community’s fire department, which sent an ambulance.
“It’s a strange case. Without having to leave the building, they actually were able to save a life. So I think that’s pretty great,” said Wayland Fire Chief David Houghton.
The 16-year-old boy survived. Rock told 7News she considers the firefighters in Massachusetts her “guardian angels.”
Officials in Wayland said that while Rock was lucky she got a response on Facebook, social media is not the best way to get help in an emergency. They suggested flagging down a passerby or going to a neighbor’s house if you do not have access to a phone.
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