Chris Vallett of Batavia donated pediatric oxygen masks small enough to be used for pets at the Mercy Flight Open House on Saturday afternoon. Vallet gave the masks to Janel Koeth, Assistant Operations Manager at Mercy Flight EMS.
Koeth was on scene with partner Adam Wengrzycki during the Vallett’s granddaughter’s apartment fire on October 14, 2023, on Broadway Road in Alexander, and tried to revive her granddaughter’s 16-year-old cat Diablo, after he was located inside the house during the fire.
“The firemen that finally got Diablo out and came running out of the house with him and ran right to the Mercy Ambulance, they tried. They just put the big oxygen mask up near his face and did some CPR on him and everything, but it was too late. They happened to mention that the mask was just so big that it was hard to work correctly. I thought oh okay, this is something I can give back in his memory, in his name to maybe help somebody else. It will help with dogs, somebody else’s cat or maybe even an infant.”
Vallet plans on donating the pediatric oxygen masks to several local fire departments as well.
“It’s helping us help you, it’s helping us help the community. Its more tools in our toolbox so we can better be prepared for the community that we live in and serve in. It means a lot, the extra things that we can do that can go beyond what we’re taught in school,” says Koeth.
