June 30, 1963

Good work

       FRIDAY AFTERNOON, the northern part of Johnson County had an electrical storm. Its results were tragic in at least one family. Young Julius Sokil, of the Mount Pleasant sub-division, was struck by lightning as he mowed the grass at the home of his parents. Several residents reportedly saw the accident happen and several more were called to the scene by screams of the youth. These people were calm about the whole thing and performed the duties they should have quickly. It almost saved young Julius’ life. Someone called a doctor immediately; another called White River volunteer fire department, while a third neighbor went to the assistance of the youth, when he fell off his yard mowing tractor. The boy was unconscious when the firemen arrived and they immediately administered artificial respiration with oxygen – in which they have been trained recently. Dr. Harold Onyett arrived on the scene quickly and found that the boy’s heart had stopped. He began heart massage with pressure while the firemen administered oxygen. The doctor was relieved by firemen every once in a while and in less than 30 minutes, Dr. Onyett said that the boy’s heart had started to beat. It was visible from the outside of his to spectators looking on. About that time, the ambulance which took the youth to an Indianapolis hospital arrived. The boy’s pulse was reported to be around 110 count and real strong. Firemen continued to administer the oxygen until the ambulance intern hooked up the oxygen inside the ambulance. When the boy left his home, he was thought to be on the road to recovery. However, the body can take a lot but it has limits too. The youth arrived at the hospital and medical authorities continued to carefully attend him but the stoppage of the heart for several minutes seemed to be too much for the 14-year-old boy to stand. Hospital attaché’s reported his condition “very critical” on Friday evening. He died Saturday morning. We think people in White River Township should be proud of the men who come to their aid in cases of emergency. These men should be told about it. They spend many hours learning how to handle emergencies and for a time it looked like the situation was one they had could point to as a perfect job. Medical authorities said the youth’s heart had probably been stopped too long and damage done that could not be visible. We are glad that we live in an area where the “almost impossible can be accomplished” through the knowledge and work done by men dedicated to their profession. We graciously extend our congratulations to Dr. Onyett and the White River volunteer firemen for a job well done.

    

---