Officer Aids Girl Not Once, But Twice

By MARY STANLEY
It seems that 14-year-old Shannon M. McBain has found a bit of a guardian angel in Sandwich Police Officer David M. Malcolmson.
The two first met some eight years ago when Shannon, the daughter of Mary and Richard N. McBain, was at a neighbor’s house. She had slipped off the back deck and broken her fall by placing her hand down on the hard cement portion of the home’s bulkhead. She not only broke her fall, but also broke the two bones, the radius and ulna, in her lower arm. 
Patrolman Malcolmson was the first to respond to the medical emergency and he has never forgotten the sight of the severe break or the bravery exhibited by the then-5-year-old. 
“It was like a ‘V’ sticking up out of her wrist,” said Officer Malcolmson. It was a sight, he said, that might have caused any adult to become queasy or even pass out.  “She only shed a few tears. I will never forget how well she dealt with it,” he stated.
Shannon does not remember the details of that incident, but does remember the kindness of the officer. “He put my arm in a splint and he sat and waited with me for the ambulance to come,” she said.  
Over the years, Shannon’s and Officer Malcomson’s paths have crossed from time to time and they have always made a point of catching up with one another, with Shannon filling him on what grade she was in and what sports she was playing.
And so, on June 18, the last day of school for children in Sandwich, their paths crossed again, this time at Sandwich Pizza House. And once again, Officer Malcolmson found himself coming to the young girl’s aid.
He and Patrolman Michael P. Gumbleton had only a short amount of time to grab lunch while working a detail at Town Hall Square so they decided to head to the pizza place on Route 6A.  When they walked into the establishment, they were overcome by the sound of nearly two dozen recently promoted eighth graders celebrating the end of school and the beginning of the next phase of their young lives.  Officer Malcolmson saw Shannon and, per usual, the two exchanged hellos. Shannon told him that she was heading to the high school in September. The conversation was brief, and Shannon returned to sit with her friends and to have lunch.
Moments later, Officer Malcolmson said, amid all of the sounds of celebrating adolescents, he heard someone yell out, “She’s choking, she’s choking.” He looked over to see that it was Shannon.
“I immediately went over to her. I gave her a few seconds to see if she could get whatever was stuck in her throat out on her own. But when her face began to change color, and she put her hands up to her throat, I pulled her out of the booth and stood her up,” he explained. He began administering the Heimlich maneuver. After four thrusts, “the food just popped out,” he said.
Shannon said she is once again grateful that Officer Malcolmson was nearby to help her out. “I was just talking with my friends and eating when I started to choke on the pizza. At first, my friends thought I was joking but when they saw my face, they knew it was real. I was a little scared and I tried to cough it up, but then I couldn’t breathe. It all happened so quickly. He came over pretty fast,” she said. 
Looking back on that incident, Officer Malcolmson said, “It’s the craziest thing. Of all the people, it had to be Shannon. What are the chances?” he said.
Shannon said the fact that Officer Malcolmson has come to her aid not once, but twice, may be just coincidental, but she’s not entirely dismissing the idea that he may be her own personal guardian angel. “Yeah, he probably is,” she said.