CLAIBORNE COUNTY, Tenn. — A Claiborne County Eagle Scout is being recognized nationally for thinking quickly and saving his mother's life as she experienced a severe allergic reaction and went into anaphylactic shock.
"If he was not there and did not know what to do, I would not be here," his mother Crystal Thacker said. "I would not be here."
She took a prescribed antibiotic for a sinus infection when she started having a severe reaction. She said she felt hot and itchy, short of breath and parts of her body started swelling.
Stewart Thacker, her son, said he found her unconscious in the bathroom. He said that his Eagle Scout skills were suddenly vital and he stopped thinking. Instead, he immediately sprung to action.
"I don't really remember what was going through my head," he said. "I just acted on instinct — on my training."
He gave her Benedryl and started applying cold compresses, waiting for first responders to get to his home and give his mother epinephrine.
"He was checking my pulse, he was checking my respirations. He was doing everything by the book," Crytal said.
Stewart said he didn't think much about it, though. It's all in a day's work he said.
"You never know when those situations are going to arise and if you've got somebody that knows how to do that, it makes it a lot easier," he said.
Now, he is getting a National Certificate of Merit. It's presented by the National Committee of Boy Scouts of America, given only to a few select people who take actions that rescue another and exemplify the values of the Boy Scouts.
"He is to be commended for his ability to take control of a situation," said Steve Hillis, the Boy Scouts district chair.
At the end of August, Stewart will turn 18 years old. But he plans to continue working with the Boy Scouts and with his father as a union assistant scoutmaster.
"Very, very, very proud," his father said. "It's hard to put into words."