Calm Under Pressure: Airman's Quick Thinking Saves Infant's Life

What began as a quiet autumn Sunday for Air Force Senior Airman Hannah Lillund quickly turned into a moment that would test her composure, skills and instinct.

 
“I was just sitting on the couch relaxing,” said Lillund, a 569th U.S. Forces Police Squadron vehicle registration clerk stationed at Kapaun Air Station, Germany. “I heard someone yelling, ‘Help us! She’s not breathing!’ So I ran down the stairwell barefoot, in pajamas, to help.” 
 
Air Force Senior Airman Elena Lucas, an 86th Communications Squadron client systems technician, and her husband, Mason Edlin, were frantically trying to save their 9-month-old daughter, Eumi, who suddenly began choking. 
 
“We were just in our living room playing with her,” Lucas said. “One second she was fine, and the next, she started coughing and then went completely silent. Her eyes were wide and she wasn’t breathing. I yelled for my husband to call [emergency services] and we ran outside the apartment screaming for help.” 
 
Thankfully, Lillund heard the call for help and her instincts as a first responder kicked in. On her way down the stairs, she ran into her kids, who were on their way to alert her.

She and her husband, Tanner, immediately sprinted out of their apartment to help. She went to their neighbor’s apartment while Tanner went to find emergency services. 
 
As she arrived, Lillund found Lucas still striking her baby’s back, desperately trying to clear Eumi’s airway. 
 
“She came down so calm,” Lucas said. “She just said, ‘Can I see her?’ and took her from me. I swear, it was just three taps on the back and suddenly all this saliva came out of her mouth; she coughed and the color came back to her face. It was like watching a miracle happen right in front of us.” 
 
Within two minutes of calling, emergency services arrived on the scene, Edlin said. Paramedics assessed Eumi and found her breathing steadily. 
 
“The fire department got there so fast,” he said. “But by then, Hannah had already saved her. The whole thing happened in about five minutes, but it felt like forever.” 
 
Lillund said her training kicked in like muscle memory. 
 
“In security forces [technical] school, they teach you how to keep calm under pressure,” she said. “They make you perform while your heart’s racing. You learn to breathe, focus and just do what needs to be done.” 

 
For Lucas and Edlin, the experience remains both terrifying and humbling. 
 
“I’ve never felt more helpless,” Edlin said. “I was doing everything I knew to do but it wasn’t working. And then Hannah shows up cool, calm and collected, like she’s done it a hundred times. She really saved Eumi’s life.”
 
The first baby girl delivered at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center this year, Eumi is now back to her usual self. 
 
“I still think about it sometimes,” Lillund said. “How everything lined up perfectly. My kids seeing it, me being home when it happened and being trained for moments like this. It reminds me why we do what we do. You never know when you’ll need to be ready.” 
 
For one family, that readiness made all the difference.