Just days before their third child was due to arrive, Clark and Megan Wakeman decided to take their little girls to a local pumpkin patch for a little fun. While playing on a bouncy slide, their daughter, Brooklyn, took a tumble.
Thankfully, two Parkview caregivers were also spending the day out with their family. Richard McNeil, flight paramedic, Parkview Samaritan, and Michelle McNeil, manager, Emergency Department, Parkview Whitley Hospital, Parkview Warsaw, stepped in right away.
“We did what we would normally do in an emergency situation,” Richard said. This included taking her vitals, calling 911 and, using a cardboard box and duct tape, splinting Brooklyn’s leg.
The pair provided calm and comfort to both the patient and her mom. “They kept her calm, reminding her to breathe, telling her it’s OK to be scared and it’s OK to cry,” Megan recalled. “And then reminding me, nine months pregnant, to keep breathing. They helped not just her, but all of us.”
Brooklyn had a broken femur. She underwent surgery and was in a wheelchair for six weeks. Today, she is doing well and preparing for a final surgery to get her back to running and playing normally.
While the McNeils’ actions that day felt heroic to Brooklyn and her family, for Richard, it was just another day. “Even though we were off duty, we were just doing our jobs,” he said.
As a token of their gratitude, the Wakemans chose to honor the McNeils with a Guardian Angel pin through the Parkview Foundation.
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