Boy doing well after seizure, police response
When doctors examined 15-month-old Chase Kwasna, they described him as “the picture of health,” his father, Jason, said Wednesday.
After Chase suffered a seizure Saturday afternoon, two Riverhead police officers rushed him to Peconic Bay Medical Center in a swift rescue that spanned a matter of minutes.
His parents are happy to report Chase is back in good spirits after the harrowing ordeal, although the cause of the seizure remains a mystery.
“They can’t figure out what’s wrong and that’s what bothers [the doctors],” Mr. Kwasna said. “He should not have had a seizure.”
During the rescue it was assumed that Chase was choking, possibly on a toy. Further examinations, however, confirmed he suffered a seizure, his parents told the News-Review this week.
The ordeal began when Chase’s sister, 4-year-old Jordyn, rushed over to her parents saying that Chase “just fell down shaking,” Mr. Kwasna said.
Chase’s mother, Leslie, was folding laundry in the next room within eyeshot of her son as Mr. Kwasna was rocking their 3-year-old son Tatum to sleep nearby in their Riverhead home just off Osborn Avenue. The couple has four children. Their oldest daughter, Kendal, turns 10 in a few weeks.
Ms. Kwasna credited Jordyn for being a hero to Chase.
“Thank goodness for the big sister,” she said.
After Jordyn alerted her parents, Mr. Kwasna grabbed Chase as his wife dialed 911.
Mr. Kwasna jammed his hand in his son’s mouth, pulling out his tongue to try to clear any object that might have been blocking his airway. Four days later, a bite mark on the father’s left hand near his thumb was still visible from where Chase had bitten down.
Officers arrived on scene within about three minutes and made the split-second decision to transport Chase to Peconic Bay in a squad car, rather than wait for an ambulance.
“Police were here…in ridiculously quick fashion,” Ms. Kwasna said.
At around 9 p.m. he was transported to Stony Brook University Medical Center, Mr. Kwasna said. The next morning doctors performed an electroencephalogram to measure Chase’s brain waves. The test lasted about four hours, Mr. Kwasna said.
“We held him down and he was fighting it,” Mr. Kwasna said. “He just got so tired he fell asleep. So he slept for like 2 1/2 hours of the testing, which was perfect for the doctor.”
Chase will undergo an MRI next week at Stony Brook, his father said.
