Michael Came To The Rescue, Scout’s Honor

Michael Betts is an unlikely hero.

He squirms and pleads for doughnuts. A Pulmo-Aid machine pumps oxygen through his asthma-choked bronchial tubes a few times every day. He can’t resist play-punching his younger brother, Brian, and he’s wound so tight that medication has to slow him down.

So, when Michael, who’s 11, calmly kept his mother alive last January with first aid he learned in Boy Scouts, everyone was astounded.

“For him to have picked up enough to do what he did…” says his mother, Paula Lamb, shaking her head in disbelief. “I’m just amazed.”

Paula, her husband, Ron, and their five children left Oklahoma for Post Falls last fall. To help Michael and Brian adapt to their new home, Paula and Ron registered the boys in Webelos Scouts.

“Pack 250,” Brian says with pride.

The boys live for their Monday meetings. They build cars and tie knots. They camp and learn CPR and the Heimlich maneuver.

“Blegh,” Michael says, to demonstrate how the right force between the ribs will expel whatever’s stuck in the throat.

His exhibition on Jan. 12 was more memorable. Ron, Paula and the two boys were leaving a Tidyman’s when Paula struck her head on the car door.

She said she was fine as she slipped into her seat. But a moment later, she stiffened.

“It was scary. She threw her cigarette back on us,” Michael says, giggling so hard that it’s easy to imagine the cartoon cigarette sailing through his memory.

Ron thought his wife was having a stroke. He’s a former firefighter who’s responded to car wrecks, helped the wounded and covered the dead.

“I was terrified,” he says. “I went to pieces. Mike knew exactly what to do. I started looking to him for answers.”

Paula went limp a moment later, and her head sagged and crimped her air passage. Her lips turned blue. Michael heard her choking, reached over the seat, straightened her head so she could breathe, then held her head firmly in the crook of his arm.

Paula’s arms flailed, but Michael held on through the wild ride on Seltice Way through two red lights. Even after Ron pulled up to Kootenai Medical Center’s emergency room, Michael held Paula’s head.

“I don’t want my mama to go away,” he says.

Paula, who’s 37, had her first epileptic seizure that day. Michael says he just did what he’d learned. Boy Scouts’ National Court of Honor awarded him its Medal of Merit last week.

“I’m so thankful,” Paula says. “I think the best thing we ever did for the boys was put them in scouts.”

It’s all an act

Remember Mike Fox, the Post Falls High senior accepted into the prestigious National Theater of the Deaf? His acting career kicked off sooner than he expected.

An unexpected caller from Warner Bros., or whoever’s casting for “The Postman,” offered Mike a bit part in the movie after he returns from theater classes in July. He thinks he’ll have to jump off a bridge.

Is there anything an 18-year-old man enjoys more?

Bee smart

Here’s another Close to Home alum. Coeur d’Alene’s Victor McFarland proved last week at the National Geography Bee in Washington, D.C., the value of unplugging the television. He finished 11th of 56 contenders and won some quality attention for North Idaho and Lakes Middle School.

He’s not finished, either. Victor’s only 13 and eligible to take another swing at the national title next year.

What’s your “bee” story? Spell it out for Cynthia Taggart, “Close to Home,” 608 Northwest Blvd., Suite 200, Coeur d’Alene 83814; FAX to 765-7149; call 765-7128; or e-mail to cynthiat@spokesman.com.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color photo