GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — Five Gwinnett County firefighters reunited with a girl they once feared wouldn’t survive the night she was born.
The emergency call came nine years ago from a home near Norcross. A mother was bleeding and her baby was coming too soon.
“It was the most quiet call, I think, that I’ve ever been on,” said retired firefighter paramedic Laura Veronee. “It was just business, very serious.”
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Charlotte was born in the back of an ambulance, three pounds and lifeless.
Lt. Clay Mantovani told Channel 2 Gwinnett County Bureau Chief Matt Johnson the team immediately jumped into action.
“In cardiac arrest, no heartbeat, not breathing,” he said. “So we had to do what we were trained to do from there.”
He remembers clearing the airway while Veronee performed CPR.
“Laura started doing CPR. I had to suction the airway out, get stuff out [of the] airway,” Mantovani said.
By the time they got to the hospital, something had changed.
“Then [Laura] comes out and said Charlotte was breathing on her own by that point,” Mantovani said.
That moment still sticks with the crew.
“We don’t get saves like this,” said former firefighter Dennis Pishock.
Charlotte not only survived, she thrived. Now a straight-A student, she asked to meet the team who helped bring her back to life.
“For us to be able to experience that is pretty rare,” said firefighter Matt Christie.
“When she finally asked to meet us, that was huge,” Veronee said.
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During spring break, Charlotte and her mother traveled from out of state to see them in person.
“She jumped out of the driver’s seat and just ran right up to me and hugged me,” Veronee said.
For the firefighters, seeing her alive and well is the reward they’ll always carry.
“It’s just the crew. God, that’s it. That’s the only reason she’s here,” Pishock said.
Lt. Clay Scott said moments like this are what the job is all about.
“I think that’s why we all sign up to do this job,” he said. “To help people.”
They all hope to continue sharing in Charlotte’s journey, creating more memories as she grows.
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