Glenrock 15-Month-Old Alive Thanks To Grandmother And Cop Who Lives Next Door

A 15-month-old Glenrock boy is alive today thanks to the quick actions of his grandmother and the law enforcement officer who lives next door. The neighbor, Glenrock Police Officer Shane Pierce, also serves as a firefighter and was preparing for bed just after 9 p.m. on April 8 when his fire department pager alerted him to a medical emergency at the address right next door.

“I have been neighbors with them for eight years and so I knew they had a baby,” Pierce said. He threw on his clothes and ran. As he reached the front door, it opened—Alvin Lenzen was on his way to Pierce’s house for help.

Inside, the toddler’s grandmother, Kathryn Lenzen, had been fighting to keep her grandson, Colton, alive. The boy had started having seizures and couldn’t breathe. While her daughter Autumn Trullinger called 911, Kathryn tried CPR, but a seizure had locked Colton’s jaw and she couldn’t get a seal. “I just held him on his side and was breathing in to his mouth as best I could,” she said. “And he finally started, like, very shallow breaths.”

Pierce took the boy, turned him upside down, and gave soft back blows. The boy vomited material he was aspirating on. “As soon as he did that, he started breathing, but he immediately went into seizures,” Pierce said. He worked to keep Colton’s airway clear until EMS arrived. Pierce also helped calm the boy’s body, and he came out of the seizure.

Colton was transported to Banner Wyoming Medical Center, where he suffered another seizure and was flown to Children’s Hospital Colorado in Aurora. He spent five days there being treated and evaluated. Hospital staff told the family that the efforts of Pierce and the grandmother saved the boy’s life, preventing brain damage or organ damage by keeping him from going without oxygen too long.

The incident was Colton’s first seizure. The family was given medication to help prevent future episodes.

Pierce was honored at the Glenrock City Council meeting on Monday. Chief of Police Colter Felton said, “This incident demonstrated the commitment our officers have to the community. Even when no one expected him to, Officer Pierce chose to put others before himself.”

A former police officer of 11 years in Missouri, Pierce has performed CPR on adults before, but this was his first time with a toddler. He said the situation was “scary,” but he felt he simply did what he knew from his first-aid training. “They’re great people and I just wanted to be there to help them,” he said. “That’s really it.”