Alexander Stephens, 4 1/2 months old.
Born with a cluster of birth defects, little Alexander Stephens has had plenty of medical problems in his 41„2 months of life — open-heart surgery, acid-reflux disease, a feeding tube and several bouts of pneumonia.
His mom, Racheal Stephens, has been at his side, caring for him at home and at hospitals in Medford and Portland.
But when Alex stopped breathing while Stephens fed him Monday afternoon, she sent out a panicked call for help.
Within minutes, Medford police officer Tim Garr was at the door of her Whitman Place apartment. He had the baby breathing again by the time paramedics from the Medford Fire Department and Mercy Flights arrived.
"He did such a good job," Stephens said. "Everything happened so fast. I had given some rescue breaths, but I was in panic mode."
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"I was really, really impressed by him," Mellgren said of Garr, who has been with Medford police for six years. "He just went with his training and covered all the bases so perfectly. He obviously really takes his job seriously."
Garr, who worked for the Jackson County Sheriff's Department for seven years before becoming a Medford officer, said he had never resuscitated an infant before facing the cold, limp, blue form of Alex.
"I can't remember helping anyone else in that kind of need," said Garr, the father of three kids ranging in age from 7 to 16.
Alex has CHARGE Syndrome, a genetic abnormality that causes a cluster of symptoms including heart defects; eye, ear and nose malformations; swallowing and breathing difficulties; facial palsy; and brain abnormalities that can cause developmental delays, Stephens said. He spent his first month at the neonatal intensive care unit at Rogue Valley Medical Center. After a month at home, he developed fluid in his lungs and returned to the hospital for another month. After six days at home, he suffered heart failure and had open-heart surgery at Doernbecher Oct. 19 to repair holes in the heart wall, spending another five weeks in the hospital, Stephens said.
Stephens and Alex got home at around noon Monday from the pediatrician's office where Alex had gotten a routine round of vaccinations. She was feeding him through the tube into his stomach while he sat in his car seat on the living room floor. He squirmed with what Stephens thought was discomfort from the shots, so she gave him some infant Tylenol, then went to the kitchen to get his bottle again.
"When I got back, he was purple," she said.
She called 9-1-1 and the operator directed her on how to get the baby breathing again.
Following the instructions, she laid him on his back on the couch, tipping his head back to open his airway. He gasped, but didn't keep breathing, even after she blew air into his lungs.
Garr was climbing into his patrol car at the police parking compound at City Hall at 12:13 p.m. Monday when he heard the call crackle over the radio. The dispatcher said a baby boy was blue, not breathing and unresponsive, and medical crews on their way wanted help from any emergency responder nearby.
Garr raced to the home, calling directions over the radio to crews on their way to the apartment at the back of a complex near South Medford High School.
"I heard him pounding on the door and thought 'Thank God,' " Stephens said.
Four minutes after Stephens called 9-1-1, Garr took over, searching for Alex's pulse, checking his airway and giving two gentle puffs of air to provide oxygen without overexpanding the baby's lungs.
"He coughed and started to breathe," Garr said.
Although Alex's breathing was shallow and labored, a pinkness crept back into his face.
Fire and ambulance crews, along with Chief Mellgren, arrived as Alex started breathing, and Garr continued to support the baby's head and neck as he briefed the technicians on the infant's condition. As they set to work, he calmed Stephens and helped gather her coat, purse and medical information for the ambulance ride to the hospital.
Monday evening after Alex's condition stabilized, he was airlifted to Doernbecher, where he remained in critical condition Wednesday on a ventilator.
Stephens and her husband, who own The Store, a market and deli at 2037 Roberts Road, plan to take turns traveling to Portland to be with Alex and minding the store and Stephens' other two children, ages 11 and 7.
Reach reporter Anita Burke at 776-4485, or e-mail aburke@mailtribune.com.
