Local educators save 2-month-old baby

GRAND JUNCTION, Tenn. — After a mother realizes her 2-month-old baby boy isn’t breathing and is nowhere near a hospital for help, her quick thinking leads to a life-saving miracle.

“This is the best Christmas present you can ever get is right here. It feels absolutely wonderful,” Grand Junction Elementary School Principal Linda Buggs said.

Carisa Young, the mother of 2-month-old fraternal twins, noticed her son Jaiden Prewitt wasn’t breathing. “I told my mom we’re not going to make it to Bolivar — go to the elementary school,” Young said.

There’s no medical facilities in Grand Junction, so Carisa thought of the first place she knew had a nurse.

“She was very distraught,” Buggs said. “I called 911, called the crisis team down, and we performed CPR on the baby.”

The nurse was at another area school, so Principal Buggs and her team were next in line to help baby Jaiden.

“They got my baby back breathing,” Young said. “I was so grateful. I am still grateful, because God is not done with my son.”

The school’s crisis team is made up of teachers and staff who go through monthly training drills to prepare for these kinds of events. Members of the crisis team  grabbed an AED machine and took it into the principal’s office to perform CPR and get the baby breathing.

“They are not just about the kids learning. They’re about they community. I’m so grateful for Grand Junction school,” Young said.

Young said doctors found congestion in his lungs but don’t know what could have caused it.

“He’s doing good,” Young said. “He’s been breathing on his own. He’s still on the ventilator, but he’s been breathing on his own.”

As Jaiden continues to heal in the hospital, hometown heroes wanted to send him a special message, saying “We Love You Jaiden!”

Sen. Delores Gresham contacted school officials to let them know the teachers will be honored at the state capitol sometime in January.