Waitress honored as angel for role in saving infants life | News, Sports, Jobs
Shantel Legsay, with her 2-year-old son, Hiwa, and 13-year-old daughter, Haylo, interacts with a boy who was hospitalized with life-threatening injuries last year in a suspected child abuse case. During a gathering at Bistro Casanova in Kahului, Legsay was honored Monday for intervening and calling 911 to get medical attention for the boy, then an infant, after she noticed his injuries while working as a waitress last year. The Maui News/LILA FUJIMOTO photos
KAHULUI — After twice asking if she could call 911, waitress Shantel Legsay was uneasy as a woman and her grandmother began to walk out of a Kahului restaurant with a baby boy who was turning blue.
“I almost let them leave,” said Legsay, who was working the afternoon of April 30 at Cafe O’Lei at the Dunes. “When I turned around, I just felt the Holy Spirit, an uneasiness. I followed them out.”
Legsay gently grabbed the infant’s mother, saying, “This is your baby. He does not look OK.”
“She finally agreed for me to call,” Legsay said. “I ran inside. I called real quick.”
Legsay was recognized Monday for stepping up to help get medical attention for the then 11-month-old, who suffered life-threatening injuries in a suspected case of child abuse.
Shantel Legsay (left), her 13-year-old daughter, Haylo, and 2-year-old son, Hiwa, play with a boy who was hospitalized with life-threatening injuries last year in a suspected child abuse case. At a gathering Monday at Bistro Casanova in Kahului, Legsay received the “Angel Amongst Us” award from the Friends of the Children’s Justice Center of Maui for intervening and calling 911 when she noticed the boy’s injuries while she was working as a waitress at Cafe O’Lei at the Dunes.
After being transported by ambulance to Maui Memorial Medical Center, the infant was medevaced to an Oahu hospital to be treated for bleeding in his brain, malnutrition and other injuries. In a police investigation that followed, the child’s mother and her boyfriend were arrested. Both are awaiting trial and have pleaded not guilty to attempted murder and other charges.
At a gathering at Bistro Casanova in Kahului, Legsay received the first “Angel Amongst Us” award from the nonprofit Friends of the Children’s Justice Center.
“She realized the baby was literally clinging to life,” said Paul Tonnessen, executive director of the organization. “If she didn’t do anything, the baby would have passed.
“Shantel represents the best in all of us. This should encourage other people that when you see something, say something. We know that speaking up is the right thing to do.”
Sheila Haynes, board president of Friends of the Children’s Justice Center, also praised Legsay.
“It’s so incredible,” Haynes said. “Our whole goal is to encourage other people, when they see something wrong, to take action.”
Mayor Michael Victorino presented Legsay with a certificate of recognition and appreciation.
“Shantel has demonstrated what I call the aloha spirit,” he said. “Too many people don’t want to get involved. Shantel did and we’re so thankful that this young man is still with us.”
Police Chief John Pelletier said that “if she didn’t act, this baby may not be alive.”
“It’s the least we could do to make sure we pay recognition to her,” Pelletier said.
“We want to make sure that when nobody can speak for the victims, we do everything we can by building the best case possible.”
At the restaurant Monday, the boy was running and playing with Legsay’s 2-year-old son, Hiwa, and 13-year-old daughter, Haylo.
Now a couple of months away from turning 2, the boy “is doing very great,” said his father, who was living in Las Vegas when the infant was injured. He met Legsay on Monday.
“If it wasn’t for her, he would be dead,” the boy’s father said.
The boy’s grandfather was also grateful to Legsay.
“It’s awesome,” he said. “There isn’t enough thanks in the whole wide world. We have this young man moving around like a little firecracker.”
That was in contrast to the tiny infant Legsay noticed at the last lunch table she served that afternoon last year. “He was so frail and blue, gurgling,” she said. “He couldn’t keep his eyes open or lift his head. It was very unsettling. He didn’t look well at all.”
She said her “motherly instinct” took over.
“They can’t do anything for themselves. As a mom, you’re supposed to be there for them,” she said.
Legsay said she wasn’t supposed to be working that day.
“I was going to get sent home early,” she said. “It was the Lord. He put them in my path for a reason.”
When their paths crossed again Monday, Legsay wiped away tears.
“It’s just such a miracle to see him like this,” she said. “It’s a blessing.”
* Lila Fujimoto can be reached at lfujimoto@mauinews.com.
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