Huntington Beach, CA - September, 25 - When masters water polo player Jim Bailey took a CPR and First Aid class a while back the main purpose of it was to make sure he got certified to be a coach by USA Water Polo for his club Bay Area Masters, for which he also plays. Little did Bailey know those first aid skills would come in huge. In a story that has made the rounds from papers in Bailey's local Northern California home of Saratoga to most recently the "Today Show" on NBC, Bailey is being billed as a hero after helping to save the life and the hand of a young girl in a bizarre accident that occurred some two weeks ago.
Six-year old Erica Rix of
Los Gatos, California was playing with a jump rope in the backseat of her mother's car and let one end of the rope dangle out the car window. The rope eventually got lodged on the axel of the vehicle and in the process cut off Erica's hand. As Alison Rix pulled over to tend to her daughter, Bailey happened to be passing by, pulled over and went in to action. He was able to use his belt as a tourniquet for the arm of the girl and comfort her until paramedics could arrive. Through many hours of surgery the hand was able to be reattached and Erica is on the road to recovery, thanks in large part to Bailey.
Bailey is happy to be called a hero, but knows things could have turned out much worse. "Obviously I feel good about it. It was horrific at the time and it haunted me for a while. I would have been seriously messed up if I had not done the right thing or if she had died. I am so glad that I had the training and that it came to me right away when it was needed. I am also glad this is such a good story with a happy ending to it," Bailey said.
Bailey got his start in the game of water polo back in high school where he played all four years. He then went on to play two years at De Anza College where his team won the
Northern California championship. Bailey got back involved in water polo some five years ago when he joined up with Bay Area Masters or BAM for short. As fate would have it Bailey's return to the game of water polo, led to a first aid course, and with some perfect timing produced a hero everyone in the water polo community can be proud of.
For a full story of the incident click here. To learn more about how to get yourself certified in first aid and cpr click here.
