Scout honored for lifesaving 911 call

By Jessica Ercolino, Staff Writer
   MILLSTONE — One local Boy Scout’s quick thinking and composure saved his father’s life this holiday season.
   On Thanksgiving morning, Jeff Kells and his 11-year-old son, Dylan, were shopping at the local Foodtown grocery store when Mr. Kells started to feel discomfort in his chest. Once the two got back to the car, the pain radiated through his shoulder and arm as Mr. Kells began experiencing the onset of a heart attack.
   ”It got to the point where I was ready to say goodbye to my son and have him call my other son (at home) to say goodbye,” said Mr. Kells.
   Remaining calm and following procedures he learned in Boy Scouts, Dylan searched through his father’s coat for his cellular phone and dialed 911.
   ”It was scary, but I just tried to stay calm while talking to the people,” the sixth-grader said.
   The boy directed the rescue squad to their location, and Mr. Kells was rushed to the emergency room at the CentraState Medical Center in Freehold. Medics directed questions toward Dylan because his father was having difficulty speaking.
   Mr. Kells, 53, said he had had no heart conditions or indications of high blood pressure prior to his heart attack.
   He was running more than two miles at least twice a week, and fortunately, on that morning, he had taken Dylan to the gym with him before visiting the grocery store. Mr. Kells said he isn’t sure if he would have been able to make the phone call himself, and that Dylan was instrumental in getting him the rapid care he needed.
   ”Some kids may have just panicked and been more concerned with what was going on with me than taking action,” he said. “Seeing his composure with coordinating everything, I knew I was in good hands.”
   At the hospital, Dylan contacted the rest of his family, including his mother, who was in Las Vegas visiting her father at the time, and his 15-year-old brother who was at home waiting to go to his aunt’s house for Thanksgiving dinner.
   Mr. Kells was given a drug to dissolve a clot and underwent surgery to insert a stent into a narrowed artery in his heart. He is taking medication and began cardiac rehabilitation this week. Mr. Kells said he should be able to resume his normal routine soon.
   Dylan, who has been involved with Scouting since first grade, was recently honored for his heroism at a Boy Scout Troop 116 meeting with a simple ceremony and a certificate.
   Scoutmaster William Mayer said that though Dylan has been with the troop for only a year, he acted remarkably and used the basic skills he had in a time of emergency.
   ”(This) also helps the other boys understand what he did, and encourages them to do the same thing in similar situations,” he said. “This will give them more of a reason to listen and watch when they’re learning these things.”