An employee at a Georgia Chick-fil-A is being credited for saving the life of a customer’s child thanks to quick actions and a desire to help.
The heroic action took place Monday at a Chick-fil-A in Columbus, Ga., when employee Zack “Cowboy” Kokenzie noticed a commotion in the restaurant’s drive-thru.
A seat belt had become wrapped around a child’s windpipe, and the other children in the car were crying for help. The father and another customer – who had left his vehicle – were frantically trying to help the child but were unsuccessful.
That’s when Kokenzie – an Eagle Scout – began helping. The Columbus Chick-fil-A wrote about the incident on its Facebook page.
Fellow employee Zachary Bullock passed a pair of scissors through the window to Kokenzie, who “calmly walked over to the rear of the vehicle and cut through the seat belt in seconds freeing the child,” the Facebook post said. Kokenzie was working outside at the time.
“Zack and our team acted quickly in rescuing a child from a life-threatening situation,” said store owner/operator Alex Vann. “I am proud of Zack, Justin, Zachary B. and our team for their quick thinking and quick responses. This could have been far worse, but Zack and others were in the right place, with the right training and the right attitude to potentially save the life of one of our customers. We are glad everyone is alright.”
Kokenzie was prepared to help because of his Eagle Scout training and his CPR certification, the Chick-fil-A said.
“The Boy Scout Motto is ‘Be Prepared’ and Zack certainly was,” the post said.
It’s not the first time a Chick-fil-A employee has helped save the life of a child with a seat belt around his neck. Last year, Logan Simmons, an employee at the Flowery Branch, Ga., Chick-fil-A, leaped through the drive-thru window to help save a 6-year-old boy who also had a seat belt wrapped around his neck. Simmons used a pocketknife to free the boy.
Related:
Chick-fil-A Worker Leaps out Drive-Thru Window, Saves Choking Boy
Chick-fil-A Employee Performs CPR, Saves Stranger’s Life: ‘God Placed Me’ There
Photo courtesy: ©Getty Images/Tom Pennington/Stringer
Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
