Skateboarder comes to aid of elderly woman in need

The West Side youth said a paramedic told him he probably saved a woman's life.
By JoANNE VIVIANO
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- It was a typical afternoon of skateboarding for Jason Hollobaugh. But that changed when he became a hero.
The 12-year-old West Sider was spending Thursday afternoon skating through the parking lot of the Wonder Bread-Hostess Cakes bakery on Mahoning Avenue. That's when he noticed an elderly woman sitting in her car.
She was slumped over the steering wheel.
Jason said he tapped on the window, but she didn't respond. He thought he saw a trickle of blood coming from her mouth.
The pre-teen said he ran inside the bakery, where he alerted workers to the woman's condition. Mary Koma, a bakery cashier, said the workers first thought Jason was joking. Then Jason took the workers outside and showed them the woman.
Called 911: Koma she called 911 while Jason and another worker walked the woman into the store. The woman was mumbling and she didn't know that she was in the bakery, Koma said.
"I think she thought she was home in her driveway," Koma said, adding that the woman was unable to drink a soda. When Pellin Ambulance Service workers responded to treat the woman for a complication of diabetes, Jason said, a medic told the boy he had probably saved her life.
"Thank goodness for Jason," Koma added.
Jason, a Kirkmere Elementary School sixth-grader, said he learned to help others in need from "my heart and from my family."
He said he hopes the woman is feeling better today.
Was nervous: "I was a little nervous," Jason said. "It just seemed like it would be dumb to leave a poor lady that's dying. I was really careful."
Jason's grandfather, Chuck Hannis, said he was proud of his grandson. He said the boy often skateboards and in-line skates in the parking lot, less than two blocks from their home on Halls Heights Avenue.
"I think what he did was wonderful," added Jason's mother, Janet. "For a 12-year-old, I was surprised when he told me."
She described her son as "all boy."
"He's a very good kid, very caring," she said.
viviano@vindy.com