Orange County boy awarded a tablet months after near-drowning
Derrick Ramdayal was found in a pool over Memorial Day weekend and has some long-lasting effects due to the accident, but he made a friend and hopes to make many more thanks to a nonprofit organization that helps kids with disabilities make friends virtually.
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13ds agoThis time of year, though joyous and full of family for some, can be incredibly lonely for others. A Rockland County teen has found one way to fix that.
Over Memorial Day weekend, Kevin and Lisset Ramdayal left the kids home with grandma in Highland Mills during a grocery run. They returned to find 2-year-old Derrick in the pool.
"I just screamed, 'Please, God. Help me,'" Lisset Ramdayal said.
It would make any parent feel helpless, except the Ramdayals are paramedics. Lisset Ramdayal dove 10 feet into the deep end to pull up her son who was blue and in cardiac arrest.
His parents worked together to resuscitate their son.
"At that moment, I was not his mom. I was not allowed to be his mom, because if I was his mom I think I would've lost it and not have done what needed to be done," Lisset Ramdayal said.
Later into his recovery, his parents were told to donate Derrick's organs. Eight months later, he's in rehab and likely to come home in early spring.
"Extremely grateful," Lisset Ramdayal said.
His life is changed, though, in a way Jack Posnack from New City understands.
"Exactly. Yes," Posnack said.
Born with a genetic disease, he wasn't expected to live past 3. He's 18 now.
"He doesn't know what he doesn't know. He loves his life," his mom, Robin Fiddle Posnack, said.
Making friends when you're stuck at home in a wheelchair can be challenging. That's why when most parents groan about video games keeping their kids inside, Fiddle Posnack sings their praises.
"Guess what he can do? Run and make touchdowns," Fiddle Posnack says.
She and her son created nonprofit Jack Attack LTPF to give children with disabilities the chance to make friends virtually.
Derrick became the newest member Friday, winning a tablet on his third birthday. His mom hopes it'll eventually help him communicate.
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