Matthew Cantrell and 9-1-1

I thought my babies and grandbabies were adorable but look at this little guy! Isn't he or I should say wasn't he adorable. Yes, wasn't. Another 9-1-1 tragedy. And one I simply can't get out of my mind.

Little Matthew was from Murphy, Texas. He, his mom and his older brother were watching TV when Matthew wandered away. He somehow became tangled up in a play soccer net. By the time the mom noticed he was missing he was in deep trouble. Matthew's mom tried desperately to save his life. I listened to the 9-1-1 call today and you can literally hear the desperation in her voice.

It brought back some memories of my own two boys when they were little. One time Brian somehow got out of the house and he was standing in the middle of Carrollton Road. He was standing on the double yellow line wearing nothing but a diaper. I forget what I was doing. I must've been doing something. Because there he was out there in the street.

Nathan when he was two swallowed all my high blood pressure pills. He climbed up the kitchen counter and somehow got the pills. The child proof lid wasn't on tight. I thought he was upstairs napping and there he was in there eating my pills as if they were candy. We rushed him to the hospital and on the way I heard his death rattle. They saw us come in the ER and pushed everyone who was ahead of us out of the way and all the doctors started working on him.

My point is things happen. I wasn't an unfit mother.

In Matthew's case the 9-1-1 call taker can be heard saying "he either tried to strangle himself or someone tried to strangle him". What bull. The baby was only a year old! You can hear the call taker saying that as clear as day! Who did he think he was? God? Accidents and tragedies happen. Not everyone these days wants to harm their kids. Sadly there are folks out there that do great harm and actually kill their kids. But if this call taker had listened, truly listened instead of judging he would have heard the mom (who, yes, tragically was hysterical) trying her best to calm herself down. She literally begged the man to tell her what to do.

Do these call takers become desensitized through time? Do they witness so much tragedy that they don't feel it anymore?

You hear them discussing it afterwards and they're just cold. It's creepy. One says "yeah, she wasn't going to listen. I tried and she just wasn't going to listen". That's totally untrue. She did try and you can hear her telling herself "calm down. I have to calm down. Breathe."

Then the police on the scene separate this poor distraught mother from her son! Because they presumed it was a crime scene? OH MY GOD! HOW DO YOU DO THAT? WHO MADE THAT DECISION???? Then they tell the paramedics that "he is gone" and that it is "now a crime scene". Meanwhile the paramedics testified how the mom could be heard screaming her grief. Well heck yeah! The paramedics understood. I'd be screaming too if they had separated me from Nathan or Brian. Just watch the movie "Dumbo" when Dumbo's taken from his mom. Yes, I think I could become violent. The night Nathan was a suspect in Denise's death, I wouldn't leave. He wanted me to. He asked me almost begged me to go home and help Sue with the babies. Would I leave? Hell NO! Even tho' he was 23 years old, I wasn't leaving. He was in danger. His wife was in danger.

Fortunately those paramedics forced the issue and told the cop who thought he was God, that they were the ones to decide whether there was life.

Sadly and tragically because of all the wasted time any chance of little Matthew surviving was thrown away and it all began with the call taker who wasn't helping the mom. Then just as in Denise's case it all snowballed and like Denise, little Matthew didn't have a chance.

And this cop decides to play God and separate the boy from his mom and treat it as a crime scene? The call taker assumes someone tried to strangle him? Holy Hell.

Excuse my language but I'm quite distraught over this.

Also, Matthew's 4 yo older brother witnessed the whole thing. Mom sent him for the scissors to cut through the net. Does that sound like someone who just tried to strangle her child?

I just look at that beautiful face. He was beautiful! It's obvious in his face and chubby arms his parents adored him! That he was a healthy beautiful boy.

I would think that the citizens in Murphy, Texas would be up in arms saying "hey! this is wrong! We deserve better!" "We can do better!"

But, you know, just like in Charlotte County the City of Murphy doesn't think they handled anyo of this wrong. They feel they handled everything appropriately. Sound familiar?

Hah! Sorry for the rant.

Denise Amber Lee and Matthew Cantrell, In Heaven Together

Today Mark has interviews with some professional video makers. (Sean did this one and it was beautiful. There were glitches tho' in the audio). Anyhow, Mark has to watch the video 3 more times today at those interviews. Since Nathan will be speaking more and more it's important to get something polished.

sigh

Putting your pain on public display is not an easy task. I truly don't know how Nathan does it. I guess he has his purpose and he's driven. My part was reading that IA report 3 times. That wasn't easy either. But I was driven and had my purpose.

I guess the human race can endure all sorts of suffering if in the end they feel they've contributed something positive to their fellow man.

I honestly believe 9-1-1 reform is desperately needed.

I was in communication with a family from Texas last week while the guys were away in California. They lost their son, Matthew, only a year old to a tragic accident. He accidentally got caught up in a soccer net. His mother called 9-1-1. She asked the 9-1-1 call taker 8 (eight) times "what should I do?" She was never told and wasn't connected to a EMT for another 2 and a half minutes. Even after being connected to the EMT she wasn't helped. They said she was too hysterical. Ugh!

The police arrived followed by the paramedics. Shockingly the police separated the mother from her dying son. Then when the paramedics arrived the police with arms spread out blocked their entry way and said that it was a crime scene. At least that's how I read the articles. I got it wrong or the articles did (nothing unusual there) because this is what the father told me:

"The paramedics that were blocked by the police were from the fire department. The first two paramedics had already entered my house. The first two paramedics were met by one of the police officers at the ambulance. This meant that the police officer left Matthew to tell the paramedics that 'He is gone' and 'This is a crime scene'. The paramedics had to advise the police officer that they would determine if he was alive. Matthew was alive, but was left for dead by the police officer and the police officer did delay the paramedics instead of helping them come inside."

Can you imagine? The boy wasn't dead. And he lived for another 3 days until the family decided to take him off life support. He was only a year old. sigh.

http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/dws/wfaa/latestnews/stories/wfaa081119_lj_slater.1ca3c0112.html

It's bad. Bad things happen. And the little Texas town where this happened should be outraged. It was PRESUMED that the young mom intentionally hurt her child! It's just too horrific to think about. It's literally worse than a family's worst nightmare.

The dad says he relives all the facts over and over again. I do the same thing with the IA report. People say "don't dwell on it". Heh! Like we're trying to dwell on it.

Good for this young family from Texas! They are advocating changes in the 9-1-1 system. They already have had success getting the soccer nets recalled. They are driven to seeing that this never happens again to another little boy. God bless them for that and keep them strong.

Nathan is looking forward to meeting this family when he goes to Texas. Denise will not have died in vain and neither will have little Matthew.

Okay. I have to go pack. What a depressing day. Everyday without Denise is sad. And for this Texas family, everyday without Matthew must be as equally heartbreaking.

I don't know how their call taker was reprimanded. I should find out. The heartbroken family doesn't believe they were reprimanded at all.

The dad is supposed to send me a link to the 9-1-1 call. If I get his permission I'll post it.

Our call taker only had to take 12 hours of remedial training. heh. As if that's going to help. Some people are simply untrainable.

Much love and peace.

In other news:

We are moving this weekend. I don't know how we're going to do it. The piano was picked up today. We sent it over to Nathan's house. So, it's not too far away.

Again, much love and peace and please pray for the Cantrell family in Texas.

Little Matthew Cantrell. Sweet angel.