SOAR sophomore awarded for helping 9-year-old during seizure

“This is what we’re supposed to do as humans … help each other.”

That is what SOAR sophomore AKye Mertes, 16, of Lostant told his teacher after he assisted a 9-year-old autistic child who was having multiple seizures on Wednesday, Jan 8, on their school bus.

Speaking with Mertes one gets the impression he doesn’t think he did anything particularly remarkable that day — truly believing he reacted the way any human being would or should.

“I helped give 911 information about him and stuff like that,” he said. “I told the operator that yes he’s still breathing … and then I made a couple other calls to the kids mom and my parents, as well.”

Mertes said he noticed the child was having a seizure when he looked behind him to see if the 9-year-old was on the bus that day. He said he immediately noticed he was having a seizure and notified the driver and told her to dial 911.

According to the Peru Police K-9 Haven Facebook page, this bus has stops at multiple schools within the district and takes students from various schools.

This isn’t the first time Mertes needed to assist someone who was having a seizure in front of him.

“I had to make a call when I was younger,” he said. “My aunt … has a lot of seizures and she had one where she split her head open on the pavement.”

He said he had previously looked into taking an EMT class about a year ago and has been wanting to pursue a career in health care like his mother.

SOAR High School Teacher Samantha Munks said Mertes actions were not surprising as he is one of the most kind students in her classroom.

“He is always there to give advice to all the other students,” she said. “We have a called SEL and we sit down three days a week and have a lot of discussions about our behaviors and our academics and just life in general and AKye is one of the ones that definitely helps other people out.”

“If he’s worried about other students in class he’ll come to us and let us know,” Munks said. “So, he’s just an overall great human.”

Mertes said this experience has taught him to remain calm in tough situations and it was good to be able to be there for someone and help them through a time like this one.

Peru Police Lt. Doug Bernabei and SRO Officer Brian Zebron presented Mertes with a certificate of appreciation Friday for his unwavering dedication, calm, outstanding performance and valuable contributions to the emergency medical system.