RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany -- What began as a quiet autumn Sunday for Senior Airman Hannah Lillund quickly turned into a moment that would test her composure, skills and instinct.
“I was just sitting on the couch relaxing,” said Hannah, 569th United States Forces Police Squadron vehicle registration clerk. “I heard someone yelling, ‘Help us! She’s not breathing!’ so I ran down the stairwell barefoot, in pajamas, to help.”
Senior Airman Elena Lucas, 86th Communications Squadron client systems technician, and her husband, Mason Edlin, were frantically trying to save their nine-month-old daughter, Eumi, who had suddenly begun choking.
“We were just in our living room playing with her,” Lucas said. “One second she was fine and the next she started coughing and then went completely silent. Her eyes were wide and she wasn't breathing. I yelled for my husband to call 112 and we ran outside the apartment screaming for help.”
Thankfully Hannah heard the call for help from the floor below and her instincts as a first responder kicked in immediately. She and her husband Tanner immediately sprinted out of their apartment to help, Hannah to the neighbor’s apartment and Tanner to find emergency services.
On her way down the stairs, Hannah was also intercepted by her children, Killian and Serena, who were on their way upstairs to get their mom for help. She found Lucas still striking her baby’s back, desperately trying to clear Eumi’s airway.
“She came down so calm,” Lucas said. “She just said, ‘Can I see her?’ and took her from me. I swear, it was just three taps on the back and suddenly all this saliva came out of her mouth, she coughed and the color came back to her face. It was like watching a miracle happen right in front of us.”
Within 2 minutes of calling 112 emergency services arrived on the scene, Edlin said. Paramedics assessed Eumi and found her breathing steadily.
“The fire department got there so fast,” he said. “But by then, Hannah had already saved her. The whole thing happened in about five minutes, but it felt like forever.”
Hannah said her training kicked in like muscle memory.
“In security forces tech school they teach you how to keep calm under pressure,” Hannah said. “They make you perform while your heart’s racing. You learn to breathe, focus and just do what needs to be done.”
For Lucas and Edlin, the experience remains both terrifying and humbling.
“I’ve never felt more helpless,” Edlin said. “I was doing everything I knew to do but it wasn’t working. And then Hannah shows up cool, calm and collected, like she’s done it a hundred times. She really saved Eumi’s life.”
As the first baby girl delivered at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center this year, Eumi is now back to her usual self.
"I still think about it sometimes,” Hannah said. “How everything lined up perfectly. My kids seeing it, me being home when it happened and being trained for moments like this. It reminds me why we do what we do. You never know when you’ll need to be ready.”
For one family, that readiness made all the difference.