The Catholic Standard and Times

Catholic Boy Scout saves baby brother’s life

By Christie L. Chicoine
CS&T Staff Writer

Joseph McCabe will always remember July 20, 2005, as the day he saved the life of his baby brother Riley, who was then nine months old.

Another McCabe brother had removed a piece of tape from a Band-Aid adhered to his finger. He shot the tape at a wastebasket but, unbeknownst to him, he missed.

Unfortunately, little Riley didn’t. He found the piece of tape, and put it in his mouth.

“[My brother Greg yelled], ‘Joe, Joe — Riley’s choking!’” said Joseph, who is 13 years old.

At the time, Joseph was talking on the telephone with their mother, who had called home to check on the boys while she was awaiting a doctor’s appointment at Holy Redeemer Hospital in Meadowbrook.

Joseph threw down the phone and rushed to his baby brother. “His face was all red. I just did the Heimlich Maneuver … right away,” Joseph said.

And up came the tape. “After it came out, he started laughing,” Joseph said of Little Riley’s reaction.

Just three weeks before his brother’s accident, Joseph had learned the Heimlich Maneuver and CPR training through the Boy Scouts. “I thank them a lot, because they give you a lot of opportunities and teach you a lot of different skills.”

For his heroics, Joseph was awarded a Boy Scouts of America merit medal after the 5:30 p.m. vigil Mass Saturday, April 22 at St. Cecilia Church.

Diane McCabe, the boys’ mother, had called 9-1-1 immediately after she heard her oldest son throw down the phone.

“Five minutes later, the fire department came,” Joseph said. “ We were kind of mad our mom called [them] because there was no reason,” said Joseph, who felt he had the situation under control.

In fact, before the emergency personnel arrived, Joseph, having finished examining his baby brother, had picked Little Riley up and was walking him around the house. “Then we heard sirens,” he said.

The emergency personnel who arrived at the McCabe house further examined Little Riley, “but he was just laughing the whole time,” Joseph said.

The boys’ father, Philadelphia Police Officer Joseph J. McCabe, 41, recalled what he saw when he arrived home.

“When I got in the door, the fireman said, ‘Slow down, he’s fine. Joey took care of it.’

“I was very proud,” McCabe said. “We think he’s a wonderful boy. He’s a very good role model for the other boys. We really thank the Boy Scouts for what they taught him. He knew exactly what to do.”

Diane McCabe, 39, also applauded the courage and quickness of their eldest son. “He was certified in CPR, he was a Boy Scout — he was everything you would want in a baby-sitter,” she said.

“I heard the [phone] skid across the floor, and that was it. I did not know what was happening.

“[You feel helpless] when something like that happens, and there’s nothing you can do. You don’t ever think anything like that is going to happen to you,” she added.

While she was speaking with the 9-1-1 operator, “Joey was [apparently] beeping in [on the other telephone line] to tell me that he had done the Heimlich, the baby threw up and [the tape was out of Riley’s system].”

After the happy ending, Diane McCabe went to Holy Redeemer’s chapel “to thank God,” she said.

Diane McCabe described Little Riley as “never stopping” and “full of life. He’s just a spark.” Joseph, she said, is very competent. “If I ask him to do something, I know it will get done — and right.”

Her husband added that, as both a father and a member of the police force, he has always taught his boys “to look out for each other, and to be very careful.”

As Riley’s godfather, Joseph, who is a seventh-grader at St. Cecilia’s School, considers his chief responsibility “to take care of him.”

The drama of Little Riley’s accident reminded Joseph that “you shouldn’t take life for granted, because things can happen in minutes.”

Instead, Joseph said, “you shouldn’t think about what you want [in life], but what other people need — and how you should take care of other people.”

Through the guidance of his parents, parish and Catholic school, Joseph has learned a lot in his 13 years about what it means to be Catholic. “You can’t be Catholic and not go to church, [or] complain about [going to church]. You can’t be Catholic and not be against abortion. You have to be against it. That’s what our faith [teaches].”

Joseph said that being a good Catholic also means “teaching other people, like younger kids, different things about our faith, about how important it is to follow God and the Church — and to pray.”

As for being raised in the Catholic faith in such a fine — and fun — family, Joseph, the eldest of Joseph J. and Diane McCabe’s five sons, said he considers himself blessed.

“There’s a lot of people, so you can never really get bored,” he said of his parents and four brothers — Greg, 11; Matt, 10; Riley, now 18 months, and Ryan, four months.

Joseph said he enjoys teaching his little brothers about the Catholic faith, playing sports with them and “keeping them on track.”

Joseph added that having a Philadelphia police officer for a father, and a Catholic schoolteacher for a mother — his mother is his social studies teacher at St. Cecilia — gives him a certain advantage as far as learning good behavior. “They’re really caring, even though they may seem tough sometimes. They take care of us good.”

Joseph also had rave reviews for the Boy Scouts, through which, for the past six years, he has learned how to be a responsible young boy. “They can be strict sometimes,” he said of the Boy Scouts. “Like with the tents, if you mess up, they’re on your back, but they teach you responsibility.”

Joseph’s brothers Greg and Matt are also Scouts. When Riley and Ryan are old enough they, too, will become scouts, their mother said.

“[Some] people make fun of Boy Scouts,” Joseph said, “but if [something like] that ever happens to them, they might not know what to do.”

Concluded Joseph: “I’m grateful [to God that Riley] lived — and that there’s people who want to teach kids this stuff.”

CS&T Staff Writer Christie L. Chicoine can be reached at (215) 587-2468 or cchicoin@adphila.org.