Photograph by Jacqueline Ramseyer
Terence Rajah credits his son, Justin, 7, with saving his life after a freak accident caused a hallway mirror to slice into his chest and left arm. Justin, a first-grader at St. Martin, kept his composure while calling 911.
Life Saver
Seven-year-old saves his father's life by dialing 911
By Jana Seshadri
April 4 was a very eventful and memorable day for 35-year-old Terence Rajah. Not only did Terence meet with a terrible accident on that day, but also his 7-year-old son, Justin, saved his life.
"I called 911 and got help for my dad," Justin explained.
What happened at the Sunnyvale home was a freak accident. It could have happened to anyone, but not every child would have remembered the emergency procedures taught in school and at home and have the presence of mind to follow through with them like Justin did.
"I am so proud of my son," Terence said.
Recounting the events of that fateful day, Terence said he was glad it happened to him and not to his son or 11-year-old stepdaughter. Terence, 35, and his dog, a 2-year-old chow chow, were alone in the house when he started to change the interior doors. Terence removed the six foot by three foot, two-inch gauge mirror from Justin's door and placed it against a wall. He was expecting his ex-wife--Justin's mother, Shari Huffine--to drop Justin off soon.
So he took a shower and came out in time to hear them pull up outside. When the dog heard Justin outside the house, he started barking and running toward the front door. Terence started to walk toward the door to open it, ordering the dog to stop barking at the same time. The dog slid across the floor and bumped against the mirror, causing it to fall on Terence. The mirror's sharp edge cut into Terence's chest and left arm, causing profuse bleeding. Several inches of his skin peeled from his chest and were hanging off his body when Terence opened the front door, and he was holding his skin up against his chest with his right hand and bleeding heavily from his chest and his left arm.
"I screamed when I saw him," Huffine said.
According to Justin, his mother went "ballistic." Besides his profuse bleeding, Huffine said there was blood and broken glass all over the floor. She couldn't see well enough without her glasses to dial the phone, so she asked Justin to call 911, Huffine said. Justin grabbed the phone from the kitchen, ran outside to the driveway and called for help, all the time looking in through the glass windows to see how his dad was.
"He was very clear and very concise," said David Hayhurst, a dispatcher for 13 years with the Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety.
Justin described his father's condition very calmly to Hayhurst, but the urgency in his voice was evident in the 911 tape. Hayhurst said he started to give Justin medical instructions on how to control the bleeding, but Huffine had already taken care of that with a thick, clean towel. Justin stayed on the phone with Hayhurst until he could hear the sirens coming down his street. The ambulance was there within 10 minutes, Terence said.
Photograph by Jacqueline Ramseyer
Terence Rajah shows the wound on his chest that he received from a broken hallway mirror. Rajah received serious cuts to his chest and left arm when his dog slid into a mirror just as Rajah entered the hallway from taking a shower.
"The Sunnyvale police department is the best law enforcement and public safety [department] ever," Terence said.
After patching up his wound, the ambulance rushed him to El Camino Hospital, and he was in surgery four hours later. Terence's chest wound was so deep that it required 43 stitches. The cut was so deep that it extended into his pectoral muscle, and almost punctured his lung. His left arm, which was badly wounded, needed microreconstructive surgery. After a couple of days in the hospital, Terence was back home, much to Justin's delight.
Terence has lived in Sunnyvale for five years and works as an outside salesperson for Valin Corporation. He is also president of the parent-teacher group at St. Martin's Elementary School in Sunnyvale, where Justin is a first-grader.
While recounting his father's accident to friends in school, Justin neglected to mention his major role in the event, according to his teacher, Karen O'Bannion. Justin simply told everyone that his father got hurt.
"I didn't realize the part he had played," O'Bannion said. "It wasn't until later that I came to know what he did. We're so proud of him."
Principal Genie Florczyk said she is very impressed with Justin's maturity.
"He's what we hope our students will be like," Florczyk said.
In the monthly school Mass on April 19, Florczyk recognized Justin's heroism and bravery, and Capt. Byron Pipkin of the Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety said that the department will honor Justin during a school assembly, presenting him with a plaque.
Justin is just a normal kid, his mother said. Like any other child, Justin has his share of after-school activities. Besides playing soccer and baseball, he attends classes in martial arts and goes to the Sylvan Learning Center to enhance his academic skills. But Justin's most recent encounter with emergency services has left a deep impression on him.
"I want to be a dispatcher when I grow up," he said. "I want to answer those calls and help people."
Sunnyvale, California Since 1994
