Part I of this series consisted of a review of all known articles about the Natasha Stuckey case: an opinion column in the Cincinnati Enquirer, a CBS This Morning TV feature, and some passing references in articles by my father and by my mother.
To my knowledge, the Enquirer and CBS stories are the only original reporting about the case. This installment is my analysis of those two stories and resulting questions.
I usually blog short items, but this one's long and requires your concentration and time, probably about fifteen minutes worth. I didn't want to split this into segments, so readers with short attention spans: consider yourselves warned.
Before going further, in order to better grasp the material, I recommend you first read both stories and keep them open on your desktop for easy reference.
Click here for the July 18, 1993 Enquirer column by business reporter John Eckberg, Rescue Supports Heimlich as First Maneuver.
Click here for a transcript of the July 16, 1993 CBS This Morning story by medical correspondent Howard Torman MD.
Eckberg's column provides the most detail:
(Todd) Schebor, president of Schebor Landscaping Services, and (Jack) Baker, an employee, were working at the Kugler Mill Square Apartments on Beech Street in Bond Hill at 2 p.m. on June 25 when Natasha nearly drowned.Here's what I consider to be a fundamental concern re: the two stories.
It was a Friday, the two men were mowing the front lawn - looking forward to the weekend - when a crowd of adults and children gathered and began to scream for help at the pool.
Schebor and Baker, a Goshen resident, hurried to the water and found a lifeless Natasha. She had bluish skin and wasn't breathing.
Schebor ran to call 911.
He returned and within seconds began to perform the Heimlich maneuver.
Schebor, a Symmes Township resident, had seen a television public service announcement six months before from the Heimlich Institute about the value of the Heimlich maneuver for drowning.
"She wasn't breathing, and I knew that CPR would not get any air in her," said the 30-year-old Schebor. "My wife and I were discussing it one evening about what we would do. And after watching television, we decided that the Heimlich maneuver was the right way.
"As soon as I saw that girl (Natasha) and the stuff coming out of her nose and mouth, I said the best way to get the water out of her was the Heimlich."
He pressed against the girl's abdomen with his fist, which pushed her diaphragm upward and compressed the lungs - forcing out water. On the third try, vomit and water completely cleared from the girl's airway, and she started breathing again.
She regained consciousness immediately.
Paramedics arrived, administered oxygen and took her to the hospital. She was released the next day - fully recovered.
Database and library microfiche searches of the Enquirer, the Cincinnati Post, and other Cincinnati and national news media failed to produce any news reports about the event.
In other words, it appears that the only published stories are Eckberg's column and the CBS feature.
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| Screenshot via the Hamilton County Public Library's Newsdex article search |
It's no secret that drowning and drowning rescues are a staple subject of broadcast and print news, especially during swimming season, of course.
For example, click here for a Google News search with the keywords "drowning" and "lifeguard."
Cincinnati has a string of TV news stations and in 1993 the Queen City still had two daily newspapers, the Enquirer and the (now defunct) Post.
Only weeks before June 25, 1993 - the date Eckberg ascribes to the Stuckey rescue - both papers had closely reported a high-profile campaign by my father.
In fact, Eckberg hung his column on that hook:
It's a good thing that Todd Schebor and Jack Baker, who recently saved a Bond Hill girl's life at a swimming pool, aren't members of Cincinnati City Council's law and public safety committee.
If I've got it right and there weren't any news articles about the Stuckey case, that means Cincinnati reporters were asleep at the wheel.That panel - after hearing evidence that indicates the Heimlich maneuver should be used on drowning victims before mouth-to-mouth resuscitation - refused last month to overturn a Dark Ages dictum from the Red Cross that rescue workers must try mouth-to-mouth first before any other treatment.
It also raises this question: where did John Eckberg and CBS obtain the information? For example, what was Eckberg's source for the date, time, location, and other facts he provided about the case?
Re: the CBS story, it's common for "good news" rescue stories like this to include video of the child and her grateful family. But Natasha Stuckey's name isn't even mentioned in the CBS story (which consists entirely of interviews with my father, Todd Schebor, Jack Baker, and a representative of the American Red Cross).
Eckberg, a business reporter, had Natasha's name, of course. He didn't, however, mention either of her parents, Cheryl and Tyronne Stuckey, a prominent business owner and philanthropist in Cincinnati.
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| Tyronne Stuckey |
Of course, this line of inquiry relies on the assumption that no other stories were reported. I've done my best to be thorough, but I could have missed something. If so, I invite readers - including John Eckberg and the Stuckey family - to steer me towards any additional information. If warranted, I'll do a follow-up.
But in my opinion there's more about the situation that doesn't jell.
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| David Letterman gets Heimlich-ed by my father on The Late Show, November 20, 1984 |
Ever wonder how my last name became a household word? As I told the LA Weekly a couple years ago:
"My father is such a brilliant promoter, he could teach P.T. Barnum a few tricks."That's why I can't understand why he didn't capitalize on the Stuckey case.
It was heaven-sent for his crusade to promote the Heimlich for drowning, especially right after council gave him the bum's rush on his city lifeguard push.
Better yet, it reportedly happened in his home town. What could be more convenient for Dr. Barnum?
Where are the print and TV stories with the Stuckeys thanking my father and the rescuers for saving their daughter's life? Where are the photos of my father and young Natasha? Where are the stories about my father presenting a Heimlich Institute "Save-A-Life Award" to Todd Schebor and Jack Baker?
To my knowledge, the only place my father ever mentioned the case was this brief paragraph in a peer-reviewed journal article promoting his drowning claims. It was published in 1994, just a year after the reported rescue:
"This is a report from eyewitnesses and rescuers"? That's a problem for me.
Here's why.
The case reportedly happened in Cincinnati - a detail that's missing from the above paragraph, by the way - where my father is an icon:
My father has carte blance access there. Wouldn't he have interviewed the paramedics and physicians who treated Natasha and been given the opportunity to review her medical report? Wouldn't he have interviewed Schebor, Baker, and eyewitnesses on the scene?
I'm unaware of any indication that he did any follow-up on the Stuckey case. If he didn't, why not?
There are some other interesting questions raised by the details in the Eckberg and CBS stories.
Eckberg first.
(Todd) Schebor, president of Schebor Landscaping Services, and (Jack) Baker, an employee, were working at the Kugler Mill Square Apartments on Beech Street in Bond Hill....
Here's a satellite photo screenshot of the Kugler Mill Square Apartment complex at 8481 Beech Avenue. To see for yourself, click here and then click on bird's eye:
"(The) two men were mowing the front lawn...a crowd of adults and children gathered and began to scream for help at the pool."
Over the sound of their lawn mowers, at such a distance, and separated by a building, how did Schebor and Baker hear the screams from the front lawn?
(They) hurried to the water and found a lifeless Natasha.
Were the "crowd of adults and children" just standing around the pool, screaming and gawking at the floating body? In the photo, the pool appears rather small and probably not too deep. Why didn't the bystanders jump in and pull her out?
Schebor ran to call 911.
Ran where? What phone did he use? According to this web page, in 1993 here's how many cell phone subscribers there were in the United States:
Was Schebor among those 16 million? It's possible.
But if so, why would he need to run to make the call?
Because his phone was in his truck? If so, that means he'd have to run from the pool, back across the field, around the building, then to the parking lot. How much time would have been required to reach his vehicle and make the call?
If he didn't have a cellular, he used a phone belonging to someone living in the apartment or found a pay phone.
The first option doesn't make sense. If he found someone with a phone, why would he make the call himself? He'd instruct them to make the call so he could race back to the pool, right?
If he used a pay phone, there may have been one at the apartment complex. Otherwise, based on this photo, the closest commercial areas where he might have found one are a pretty fair distance on foot.
Long story short, how long did it take to find a phone, make the call, and get back to the pool?
And why didn't he pull her out of the pool before dashing off to make the call?
(Schebor) returned and within seconds began to perform the Heimlich maneuver.
Why the Heimlich and not CPR?
Schebor, a Symmes Township resident, had seen a television public service announcement six months before from the Heimlich Institute about the value of the Heimlich maneuver for drowning.
"She wasn't breathing, and I knew that CPR would not get any air in her," said the 30-year-old Schebor. "My wife and I were discussing it one evening about what we would do. And after watching television, we decided that the Heimlich maneuver was the right way.
"As soon as I saw that girl (Natasha) and the stuff coming out of her nose and mouth, I said the best way to get the water out of her was the Heimlich."
Those who might not expect a landscaper to have such a keen interest in the subject of resuscitation clearly need to adjust their expectations.
More of same from the CBS report:
Mr. SCHEBOR: You can blow as much air as you want, but I—I suspected that seeing the amount of vomit in her mouth and her nose, I knew that she had water in her lungs, and CPR don't go through water.
It's not known how Schebor arrived at this erroneous conclusion, but its one he shares with my father.
From Heimlich's Maneuver by Thomas Francis, an August 11, 2004 cover story in the Cleveland Scene that included my father's attempt to persuade a committee convened in 1994 by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) to review his drowning claims:
That's five months after the reported date of the Stuckey case, plenty of time for my father to interview all the parties and to present it along with other cases he submitted.
But there's no mention of it in the 30-page report issued by the IOM.
Back to the CBS story:
TORMAN: To convince others, Heimlich has made a public service announcement encouraging folks to use the Heimlich maneuver first, an announcement Todd paid attention to.
Mr. SCHEBOR: It was a gut instinct, and it was also just like a flashback of seeing Dr. Heimlich behind his desk saying do the Heimlich in a drowning case first.
Schebor must have had a different flashback.
Here's the PSA from which he claimed to have obtained his inspiration. It takes place entirely in a swimming pool.
Therefore, if Schebor heard my father "behind his desk saying do the Heimlich in a drowning case first," it must have been on another occasion.
NEXT: 19 years after claimed drowning rescue, the Stuckeys don't want me writing about it and won't provide minimal supporting documentation
Eckberg first.
(Todd) Schebor, president of Schebor Landscaping Services, and (Jack) Baker, an employee, were working at the Kugler Mill Square Apartments on Beech Street in Bond Hill....
Here's a satellite photo screenshot of the Kugler Mill Square Apartment complex at 8481 Beech Avenue. To see for yourself, click here and then click on bird's eye:
"(The) two men were mowing the front lawn...a crowd of adults and children gathered and began to scream for help at the pool."
Over the sound of their lawn mowers, at such a distance, and separated by a building, how did Schebor and Baker hear the screams from the front lawn?
(They) hurried to the water and found a lifeless Natasha.
Were the "crowd of adults and children" just standing around the pool, screaming and gawking at the floating body? In the photo, the pool appears rather small and probably not too deep. Why didn't the bystanders jump in and pull her out?
Schebor ran to call 911.
Ran where? What phone did he use? According to this web page, in 1993 here's how many cell phone subscribers there were in the United States:
Was Schebor among those 16 million? It's possible.
But if so, why would he need to run to make the call?
Because his phone was in his truck? If so, that means he'd have to run from the pool, back across the field, around the building, then to the parking lot. How much time would have been required to reach his vehicle and make the call?
If he didn't have a cellular, he used a phone belonging to someone living in the apartment or found a pay phone.
The first option doesn't make sense. If he found someone with a phone, why would he make the call himself? He'd instruct them to make the call so he could race back to the pool, right?
If he used a pay phone, there may have been one at the apartment complex. Otherwise, based on this photo, the closest commercial areas where he might have found one are a pretty fair distance on foot.
Long story short, how long did it take to find a phone, make the call, and get back to the pool?
And why didn't he pull her out of the pool before dashing off to make the call?
(Schebor) returned and within seconds began to perform the Heimlich maneuver.
Why the Heimlich and not CPR?
Schebor, a Symmes Township resident, had seen a television public service announcement six months before from the Heimlich Institute about the value of the Heimlich maneuver for drowning.
"She wasn't breathing, and I knew that CPR would not get any air in her," said the 30-year-old Schebor. "My wife and I were discussing it one evening about what we would do. And after watching television, we decided that the Heimlich maneuver was the right way.
"As soon as I saw that girl (Natasha) and the stuff coming out of her nose and mouth, I said the best way to get the water out of her was the Heimlich."
Those who might not expect a landscaper to have such a keen interest in the subject of resuscitation clearly need to adjust their expectations.
More of same from the CBS report:
Mr. SCHEBOR: You can blow as much air as you want, but I—I suspected that seeing the amount of vomit in her mouth and her nose, I knew that she had water in her lungs, and CPR don't go through water.
It's not known how Schebor arrived at this erroneous conclusion, but its one he shares with my father.
From Heimlich's Maneuver by Thomas Francis, an August 11, 2004 cover story in the Cleveland Scene that included my father's attempt to persuade a committee convened in 1994 by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) to review his drowning claims:
Dr. Linda Quan, who made a presentation to the same committee, remembers the looks on the faces of oncologists who heard Heimlich...describe the impossibility of ventilating through fluid, a feat doctors accomplished with newborn babies every day.Here's another detail about the that committee. According to the report, here's when it took place:
That's five months after the reported date of the Stuckey case, plenty of time for my father to interview all the parties and to present it along with other cases he submitted.
But there's no mention of it in the 30-page report issued by the IOM.
Back to the CBS story:
TORMAN: To convince others, Heimlich has made a public service announcement encouraging folks to use the Heimlich maneuver first, an announcement Todd paid attention to.
Mr. SCHEBOR: It was a gut instinct, and it was also just like a flashback of seeing Dr. Heimlich behind his desk saying do the Heimlich in a drowning case first.
Schebor must have had a different flashback.
Here's the PSA from which he claimed to have obtained his inspiration. It takes place entirely in a swimming pool.
Therefore, if Schebor heard my father "behind his desk saying do the Heimlich in a drowning case first," it must have been on another occasion.
NEXT: 19 years after claimed drowning rescue, the Stuckeys don't want me writing about it and won't provide minimal supporting documentation
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| Recent photo of Todd Schebor (via Facebook) |
This item has been slightly updated.