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Fire crew honored for quick action
By Melody Mcdonald, Star-Telegram Staff Writer

FORT WORTH - When 2-year-old Matthew Alford fell out of a second-story window last year, his head injuries were so severe that doctors didn't think he would live.

The firefighters who had worked to save Matthew had been told that the toddler had been taken off life support and died.

"That was pretty upsetting," said firefighter Larry G. "Sonny" Tompkins, a paramedic who was on the truck that day. "I had to break it to all the guys."

One day several months ago, Matthew and his mother, Lisa, unexpectedly dropped by the fire station to thank Tompkins and the crew for helping save Matthew's life.

Tompkins wasn't there, but word traveled fast.

"They called me at home and said, 'You'll never believe who just walked in the door,' " Tompkins said. "When they told me who it was, I just fell out. I had to sit down."

The Alfords attribute Matthew's "miracle" recovery, in part, to the quick-thinking, skill and determination of Tompkins and the three other responding firefighters -- Wade Green, David Ramirez and Kaleb Kemp.

On Saturday night, these four men -- the C-shift crew of Engine 37 -- received double awards, for top emergency medical services and as Company of the Year. Tompkins also took home the top award as Firefighter of the Year.

Fighting back tears, Lisa Alford and her family stood next to the crew on stage and told the crowd that there is no other place she would rather be.

"These gentlemen here mean the world to me," she said. "They saved my son."

Moment of terror

On Feb. 28, 2004, Lisa and Eric Alford and their sons -- Matthew and 8-year-old Josh -- were helping friends move into a new house in the 5400 block of Chatsworth Lane.

Lisa Alford had taken her sons and her friend's two sons, ages 5 and 9, to the new house to await the first load of items.

The three older boys went upstairs to play and, a short time later, Matthew followed them up.

"Not even five minutes later, I heard Josh scream bloodcurdling screams," Alford said. "He said, 'Matthew fell!'

"I got to the base of the stairs and looked up and saw Josh's face, and I knew it was bad."

The boys had opened the window to let in cool air; Matthew had fallen out.

Frantic, Alford grabbed her cellphone off the counter, raced outside and dialed 911. Matthew wasn't moving, and his head had started to swell.

The C-shift crew of Engine 37 arrived within minutes. They immediately called for CareFlite's helicopter ambulance and began working on Matthew.

"I remember Sonny just sitting over him and working and working -- all of them working," Alford said. "And them barking orders, 'Get me this. Get me that. Get this. Get this.'

"The whole time, I just kept praying that God would not take him from me."

Alford's friend, Doreen Krebs, the new homeowner, arrived and asked whether Matthew was going to be OK.

"Sonny just looked at her and said, 'Just pray,' " Alford said.

Critical moments

Matthew was flown to Cook Children's Medical Center in Fort Worth, where the surgeon told the family that his prognosis was bleak.

Matthew had shattered his forehead and severed the main artery that supplies blood to the brain.

After a three-hour surgery, the doctor was not optimistic.

"When he comes out, he said, 'It doesn't look good, and I don't think he will make it,' " Alford recalled.

Matthew surprised them all. He stayed in the pediatric intensive care unit for 29 days, until he was well enough to be moved to a transitional care unit.

On May 20, Matthew went home, and Alford began to wonder about the people who had worked so hard in those critical moments. For months, she had seen the firefighters' faces in her dreams.

"I had nightmares for a long time," she said. "I kept seeing the firemen's faces in my face saying, 'Ma'am, it's not good. It is not good.' "

One day, on her way home, she was forced to take a detour past the fire station in the 4700 block of Ray White Road.

She had no idea that the firefighters who had responded that day had been told that Matthew had died.

"I just walked in and said, 'I need to know if you guys were the ones who were working on February 28. I said my son fell from a 2-story window.' "

Alford said she instantly recognized Green.

"He just looked at me and said, 'Oh my God!' "

Tomkins wasn't there, so the others called his wife, Michelle.

"They said, 'Remember the little boy that fell in February?' " Alford recalled. " 'He is alive. He is running around the fire station.' "

The next week, Alford and her family returned to the fire station.

"Sonny just walked around and held him [Matthew]," Alford said. "He just kept saying, 'I can't believe this. I can't believe this.' "

'Miracle Boy'

Today, Matthew, now 3, is trying to catch up on lost months.

Before the accident, Matthew was advanced for his age -- able to recite the Pledge of Allegiance and count to 20 in Spanish.

He has had to relearn how to sit up and walk. He is in speech therapy to learn how to talk again.

"They will never say he is going to make a full recovery with an injury like this," Alford said. "But we have faith that he is going to do just fine."

The Alfords, who sometimes refer to Matthew as the "Miracle Boy," believe that God sent Tompkins and the C-shift crew of Engine 37 to the house that day.

After the ceremony Saturday night, Tompkins said he, too, felt a higher power had a hand in the rescue.

"Angels and God were with him," Tompkins said. "That is all I know."