DICKSON CITY, Pa. — Lisa Reed says her 4-year-old daughter Maeve is a very busy kid.
Tuesday afternoon in Lackawanna County, Lisa said she was driving to the store with Maeve in her booster seat behind her when Maeve said she couldn't breathe because she was tangled in the seat belt.
Lisa pulled into the Giant Market parking lot in Dickson City to try and free the child.
"I was trying to stay calm for her, but I couldn't. And then, when I saw the marks coming up on her neck from the seat belt, that's when I think I lost it. So, for me not being able to help her, it was scary."
The seat belt was locked and getting tighter as Maeve moved.
Panicked, Lisa called 911, and officers from Dickson City and Blakely showed up to help.
"Closest, nearest units were dispatched. Chief Salerno from Blakely and I responded. We were still down in town, and he got there first," said Dickson City Police Chief Will Bilinski.
"I pulled in, got out of the car, went right to the backseat," said Blakely Police Chief Guy Salerno. "I saw the child struggling for air, pulling on [the seat belt], crying, saw that it was two seat belts that were quite wrapped around her neck."
Chief Salerno was able to cut both seat belts to free Maeve from the entanglement. She even got a teddy bear to give her some comfort from what could have been a bad outcome.
"'Oh,' she says, 'Can I have my mommy?' So, I held her, and the chief did such an excellent job. I sent them a thank you note on Facebook, and she's been carrying around the bear, and it was just a relief," Lisa said.
Other than a few scrapes from the seat belt, Maeve seems to be doing well.
Chief Bilinski says his department has had a couple of seat-belt-related incidents recently and urges parents to do a safety check when kids are in the car.
"Making sure the child is seated properly, making sure that they're within eyesight," Chief Bilinski said. "Yesterday was a little different. She's kind of seated behind the parent. It's a little tougher to see until the child says that something was wrong."
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