Black Lick Teen Honored For Saving Father's Life

BLACK LICK TOWNSHIP (KDKA) -- A local teenager is credited with saving his father's life.

Back in February, 15-year-old Bill McConnell and his father, Paul, of Black Lick Township, were cutting firewood in Indiana County. A huge tree fell on his father.

While waiting for an ambulance to arrive, Bill lifted the tree off his father's chest. When he saw his father wasn't breathing, he performed CPR.

"Not every boy could do that. Not every – even men our age could do something like he did and I still don't know how he did it himself," Paul told KDKA-TV.

Bill took a State Police cadet course where he learned CPR, but he never used it before then. At a State Police ceremony in Hershey earlier this month, he won the Meritorious Citizenship Award.

Bill wishes people would stop mentioning it.

"I'm just getting to the point of where, 'Okay. It happened, get over it,'" he said. "I mean, life goes on."

A life lesson from a 15-year-old. Paul says he's learned a couple of life lessons too – like you shouldn't going deep into the woods by yourself to cut fire wood – and it's not such a bad idea to let teenagers have cell phones.

RELATED LINKS
More Local News
More Indiana County News