LOS ANGELES, April 1, 2021 — The American Red Cross Los Angeles Region honored Pasadena resident Sherry Moller for saving her young son’s life by applying the Pediatric First Aid/CPR training she received from the Red Cross.

In January 2020, Sherry was shopping with her mother and four-year-old son at a party supply store when she noticed her son started choking and had stopped breathing. As curious shoppers gathered around the incident, Sherry dropped her items and ran to help her distressed son. The commotion confused and frightened Sherry’s autistic boy, who fought against his mother’s repeated efforts to enwrap his waist and begin abdominal thrusts.  

The frantic mother then heard her instructor’s voice in her head to stay calm. Sherry knelt before her son and calmly explained, “I’m going to help you, but you need to help me.”

While lifting his arms, Sherry explained what she was going to do and though he still fought her off, she had enough time to wrap her arms around him. After three abdominal thrusts, a piece of candy flew out of his mouth and Sherry’s son was able to breathe again.

Thanks to her training through the Red Cross Training Services course, Sherry had the confidence and skills needed to save her son’s life. This action exemplified the highest degree of concern of one human being in a time of distress.

SEE: Lifesaving Award Certificate of Merit Sherry Moller (Facebook)

For this act, Sherry was awarded the American Red Cross Certificate of Merit, the highest award given by the American Red Cross to an individual or team of individuals who save or sustain a life by using skills and knowledge learned in an American Red Cross Training Services course. The certificate bears the signature of the President of the United States, who is the honorary chairman of the American Red Cross.

Award recipients embody the spirit of the Red Cross, by using action to help alleviate human suffering in the face of an emergency. Since the Lifesaving Awards revival in 2018, the Red Cross has proudly awarded 1,384 individuals worldwide who have collectively helped to save 640 lives.

GET TRAINED Red Cross training gives people the knowledge and skills to act in an emergency and save a life. A variety of online, blended (online and in-person skills session) and classroom courses are available at redcross.org/takeaclass.

NOMINATE SOMEONE People can go to LifesavingAwards.org to nominate and recognize an individual or group of individuals who have used the skills and knowledge learned in an American Red Cross Training Services course to help save or sustain a life.

About the American Red Cross:

The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides emotional support to victims of disasters; supplies about 40 percent of the nation's blood; teaches skills that save lives; provides international humanitarian aid; and supports military members and their families. The Red Cross is a not-for-profit organization that depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to perform its mission. For more information, please visit redcross.org/la or cruzrojaamericana.org, or visit us on Twitter at @RedCrossLA or @CruzRojaLA.