Listen: Mom frantically calls 911 after 5-year-old girl stops breathing

CLIFTON — It may take a village to raise a child, but sometimes it takes a city to save a family.

That point is not lost on Janet Sims, who wondered: Just how does one thank the police and fire crews who saved your 5-year-old granddaughter's life?

By all accounts, the vivacious little girl almost died on Oct. 23, when Janessa Sims' heart stopped around 1:30 a.m. after a violent asthma attack.

The story continues below the video.

It took the desperate efforts of her grandma, the Clifton dispatcher, a firefighter and three of Clifton's Finest to pull Janessa back from the brink.

But the surprise, Janet Sims said, came afterward, when so many showed her family so much kindness by checking on her, her daughter, Amber, and Janet's disabled husband, Andrew.

"Yes, these people did their job," Janet said, "but here we have people who were not only concerned about this child, but her family."

Asthma attack

The night of Oct. 23 was a normal one. Janessa Sims went to sleep, in hopes of attending kindergarten at Clifton School 13 the next day.

An asthma sufferer since she was born, Janessa woke up and told her mother she was having difficulty breathing.

Amber began preparing her daughter's albuterol nebulizer, which helps reopen swollen airways.

Before she could administer the medicine, Amber saw that Janessa was turning blue. She called for her mother, Janet, who had learned CPR decades ago for her church. She checked Amber's breathing. It had stopped.

Amber called 911. Clifton dispatcher Susan McAvoy picked up.

"She said she'll walk me through CPR," Janet recalled.

It seemed like forever before help arrived, she said. But it wasn't that long. Sgt. Joshin Smith was first on the scene, quickly followed by Officers Eric Rodriguez and Todd Compesi and, a few minutes later, Clifton Firefighter Brian Reilly.

Compesi said he remembers the call well. He and Rodriguez were nearby when they heard the dispatch.

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"My heart dropped," he said, adding that both he and Rodriguez had newborns. "I knew what they were feeling. I said: Let's go."

While Rodriguez ran into the house, Compesi grabbed their equipment, and they took over CPR from Janet.

They determined that Janessa's heart had stopped.

"You can just tell, especially with a child: no pulse, the color in her face, and there's no breathing," Rodriguez said.

Soon after, Reilly, an EMT, showed up. Compesi said they could tell Janessa wasn't responding, and the decision was made to get her to St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center.

Janet recalls shutting down at this point, retreating to the corner of the room.

"I remember the fireman saying, 'Ma'am come out,' " she said.

The first responders took Janessa out to the ambulance. Compesi drove Amber and Janet to St. Joseph's, where Janet's other daughter, Ashanna Capers-Redmond, works in admitting.

"We called her to let her know we were coming" Janet recalled, to avoid shocking her when they rolled in with her niece.

Monthlong coma

While Janessa was out of immediate danger, there were still major concerns, including brain damage from oxygen deprivation.

Janessa, Janet said, was put a coma for a month while tests were performed.

Fortunately, Janet's CPR with the coaching by McAvoy, and the work of Rodriguez, Compesi and Reilly, prevented brain damage.

In November, Janessa was transferred to the Children's Specialized Hospital in New Brunswick, where she relearned to walk and talk. Today she is back to normal.

Extra mile

But the story doesn't end there. While they were grateful that Clifton's Finest and Bravest were there to save Janessa, it was their actions afterward that really resonated with the family.

Reilly, Janet said, stopped by the next day to see how Janessa was doing, and Smith periodically dropped in to check on Janet's husband, Andrew, who is disabled by a hip and back injury.

With Janet and Amber spending time at hospitals, Smith knew that Andrew, who has difficulty navigating around his house, was left alone. Smith would drop in every couple of days to see how he was doing.

"Once he brought me dinner," Andrew recalled.

Smith said he doesn't generally go back after calls but said there was something about this family that touched him.

"I felt a kinship," he said, explaining that as a father of two he could put himself in the Sims' shoes. When his son was 2, he suffered an asthma attack.

"This incident touched all of us," Smith said. He also later learned that Andrew had been a cop in Paterson.

Smith recalled how he had to reassure fellow cop Rodriguez that once they got the girl to the hospital she had a good chance of being OK.

"It's the hardest part when you are dealing with kids," Rodriguez said. "To see her body carried out lifeless …"

Helping a child "makes you proud of the job you do," he said.

As for Janessa's family, they just want people to know that Clifton has some great cops and firefighters. Even McAvoy, the dispatcher, checked in.

"She told me I did a great job with the CPR," Janet said, adding that McAvoy sent Janessa a gift for Christmas.

"That's what I want people to know," Janet said. "That there are good policemen and firemen in this world."

"I want my grandkids to know they can trust police," she added.

Sometime in December they took Janessa to the firehouse, where she met with Reilly, Smith and Compesi. Compesi said he was pleasantly surprised to see how well Janessa was doing.

"It was nice to get a pat on the back, which doesn't always happen," Compesi said. "It was real nice of the family to do that."

The rescuers' appreciation is reciprocated many times over by the family on Hadley Street.

"It is important to let people know there are people out there who care," Janet said.