Child, Rescuer reunited

REUNION: Trevor, now 3, and mom Crystal Long greet CHP Officer Craig Scott nine months after the rescue.

"It was horrible," Crystal Long said, remembering when her two-year-old son Trevor wandered from home on Oct. 16, 2008. "I was reading a paper and he was standing in front of the door."

"She had her attention diverted and he got away from her," APD Chief Dale Webb said.

She went outside her apartment at the Anderson Heights looking for Trevor but saw no sign of him. She guessed he was in the nearby Anderson Cottonwood Irrigation District canal.

"When I didn't hear him, see him, and he didn't answer back, that was my suspicion," Long said, adding there was a small hole in the apartment complex's fence leading to the canal that, she said, "was flowing pretty quick."

Still not finding her son, Long called 911 and then directed her husband and friends to begin looking for the toddler.

Both the Anderson Fire Protection District and APD began searching for the small child. APD Captain Kirvin called for helicopter air support immediately, Webb said.

"We went door-to-door looking for him and looked up and down the canal," recalled AFPD Deputy Chief Andy Nichols said.

In the next 30 minutes, Trevor would be swept through one mile of canal waters and under seven bridges.

CHP Air Operations Officers Craig Scott and Donovan Geyer joined the search, combing the area from above in a helicopter.

"We searched from the (apartment) to I-5," Scott said. "Initially, we thought there was no chance he had gone any further (through the canal)."

But since they could not find Trevor, Scott said they decided to look on the other side of the freeway. Between the freeway and the defunct Simpson mill, Scott spotted Trevor "floating face-up in the canal and still moving his arms."

By the time the helicopter landed and Scott retrieved the boy from the canal, however, Trevor was no longer moving or breathing. Scott was able to establish an airway, and after several minutes of resuscitation rescue breathing efforts, Trevor was able to breathe on his own, the CHP officer recounted.

Transported to Mercy Medical Center in Redding, Long finally saw her son again.

"He was on life support and looked lifeless, Long said, adding that Trevor suffered from hypothermia in the cold canal's waters.

After a couple hours, the boy was flown to a hospital at U.C. Davis, where after a two-day stay, Trevor's condition improved.

"We put a picture of him on the beach at the ocean up by his bed," Long said. "When he saw the picture, he pointed to it and said, 'baby oh-oh.' We knew he was okay then."

Trevor had no lingering complications from the event, but CHP Officer Scott said it was one of the most memorable events in his 15-year CHP career.

"Whenever a child is involved, everything is heightened," Scott said. "It's an absolute pleasure to see Trevor sitting here today."

Scott, a Trinity Center native, has worked with Air Operations for six years and as a paramedic for two years.

"Nor-Cal EMS wants to honor the exemplary performance of Emergency Medical Service providers," Chair of Nor-Cal EMS Directors Denny Bungarz said.

Thanks to Scott's efforts, Trevor, now 3, enjoys swimming and hammering.

Long said she also mended the hole in the apartment complex fence with chicken wire.