BUENA PARK : Park Ranger Who Saved Boy Honored

Park Ranger Kathleen Vanderpool was just doing her job when she saved the life of a 2-year-old boy visiting Ralph B. Clark Regional Park this summer.

“It’s one of the reasons the rangers are in the park--to help out,” Vanderpool said.

For her heroic effort, the Buena Park City Council this week gave her a commendation.

Vanderpool said that on the afternoon of July 11, she heard screams and ran to the Landis family, who had been celebrating a birthday.

She found Dillon Landis of Brea unconscious, not breathing, with his jaws locked and a grape stuck in his throat.

“He was starting to turn blue, and his pupils were fixed and dilated--it was not a good sign,” said Vanderpool, who is trained to perform emergency medical aid.

Vanderpool said she pried Dillon’s jaws open and pulled out the grape, then performed lifesaving mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Dillon slowly regained consciousness.

Dillon’s mother, Traci, described the emergency situation as “the worst experience you could go through. . . . To see him blue and not breathing was devastating.”

Vanderpool, 29, who has been a ranger for 2 1/2 years, said that normally, “the most I do is (attend to) scraped knees and bloody noses--basic first aid.”

The commendation this week by the City Council, Vanderpool said, “was quite an honor.”

Landis said that she will always be grateful to Vanderpool for her quick action.

“I feel in debt to her for the rest of my life,” Landis said.

“She will always be in my heart for saving him.”