CAHOKIA HEIGHTS, Ill — A Metro East Mayor is being called a hero by the family of a 7-year-old girl, who are crediting his quick thinking with saving her life.
Aug. 18 started as a typical Sunday for 7-year-old Kennedi Dukes, but during a quick trip to the store to get dog food, something changed.
“I felt wheezy,” Kennedi recalled.
Like millions of Americans, Kennedi has asthma, so her dad quickly tried to rush home to get her inhaler.
“Normally anytime she wheezes she’s got it right on hand,” Sharell Hall said. “When she started wheezing without the inhaler, there was nothing he could do. Less than 5 minutes away from home, I couldn’t make it home on time.”
“I passed out in my daddy’s arms,” Kennedi said.
Realizing his daughter was running out of time, her father quickly pulled into the first place he thought she could get help: Cahokia Heights City Hall.
“All of a sudden I heard this screaming and yelling from a father, banging on the door,” Cahokia Heights Mayor Curtis McCall Sr. said. “I went downstairs and I saw this child just limped over in her dad's arms.”
“It was just scary,” Hall said. “The scariest feeling I ever felt in my life.”
“I didn’t think she was going to make it,” McCall Sr. said.
That’s when McCall’s previous CPR training kicked in and he started chest compressions.
“I was losing this child,” McCall Sr. said. “This child was gone. I wasn’t giving up.”
But then finally, there was a sign of hope.
“When she coughed, I felt like she had a chance, even though she wasn’t responsive,” McCall Sr. said.
“He brought her back to me,” Hall said. “She was gone for 17 minutes. Gone!”
McCall kept attending to Kennedi until first responders arrived and rushed her to Cardinal Glennon.
“He’s a hero,” Kennedi said.
“I thank god,” McCall said. “I’m not a hero at all. I’m a public servant.”
“You are a hero, Mr. Mayor,” Hall said. “You are our hero.”
McCall said he is working to setup free CPR training for all Cahokia Heights residents and city employees in the coming weeks.
In the meantime, 7-year-old Kennedi told 5 on Your Side she wants to meet Mayor McCall so she can properly thank her hero.