The streets were packed, the weather was hot, and 2-year-old Alex Khadayat was enjoying Independence Day in Demorest.
Until he wasn’t.
The precious tot with the giggly grin and blue-framed glasses went from watching the parade and catching candy to catching a ride in an ambulance.
His mom, Susan, says Alex suffered a health scare at the end of the parade. “His eyes rolled back, he fell over and passed out,” she recalls. “This has never happened before so (it was) a very scary situation.”
That’s when people nearby sprang into action.
Habersham County Sheriff’s Reserve Deputy Lowell Tench saw the child and mom in distress and called for emergency services. “While waiting, Mayor Rick Austin and Mrs. Austin took us in and stayed with us in the water department and gave Alex something to drink,” Khadayat says. She also credits personnel from the Demorest Fire Department, Habersham EMS, and Demorest Elementary school teacher Christy Ryals with helping her and her son.
An ambulance carried the young boy and his frightened mom to Habersham County Medical Center where he was diagnosed with heat exhaustion and dehydration.
Alex is now out of the hospital doing “much better today”. His relieved mother says they’ll follow up next week with his doctor just to make sure everything’s fine.
In the meantime, Khadayat wants everyone who’s asked about him to know Alex is well and she wants all those who helped him to know she’s extremely grateful.
“I want to thank everyone for their fast acting to get Alex the help he needed,” she says. “It could have been much worse without everyone jumping right in and getting him to a cool area.”
