PENSACOLA, Fla. -- The children who crawl onto his red velvet lap at Cordova Mall whisper wishes of finding doll houses and video games under the tree. But at the top of mall Santa Howard Russell's Christmas wish list is a gift of life.
"I just want everyone -- everyone -- to learn CPR," Russell said.Last Christmas, the white-bearded Santa proved the importance of knowing how to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
Moments after 3-month-old Quentin Orr's picture was taken with Russell on Dec. 1, 1998, the baby's mother, Sheridan Orr, noticed he was turning blue in his stroller. He had stopped breathing. She picked him up in a panic.
Russell saw the commotion and jumped from his chair. He began giving mouth-to-mouth resuscitation while a mall shopper, Navy Apprentice Seaman Travis Harmon, of Erie, Pa., massaged the baby, a technique Harmon had learned at the Pensacola Naval Hospital where he worked.
They saved Quentin's life. Doctors later told Mrs. Orr the baby probably became excited and choked on his own saliva, she said.
Today, she said, "He's unscathed and blissfully unaware."
She and her husband, Michael, have since moved to Daphne, Ala., about a 45-minute commute from Pensacola, to be closer to her family.
But they have kept up with Russell, attending functions where he has received awards for his heroism. In the weeks just after his lifesaving deed, they appeared with him on three network television morning programs and an American Red Cross holiday special hosted by Elizabeth Dole.
Quentin, now 15 months, and Russell, 47, were reunited Nov. 19 when Russell returned to his seasonal job at the mall.
"You could tell there was just a genuine affection," Mrs. Orr said. "He's kind of going through a mommy-dependent phase where he does not like anyone else to particularly hold him, and he sat in Howard's lap for 40 minutes."
Russell said Quentin's brush with death made him realize how fragile life can be. He began teaching CPR again and said he has taught the technique to about 400 people in classes sponsored by the Red Cross and American Heart Association.
"To be able to help somebody . . . that's what life is all about," he said.