Hunter Cairns with his grandfather, Jack Lee, in Lakewood, Calif. Cairns was playing baseball for Los Alamitos High School when a ball struck his heart. The impact of the ball on his chest It caused his heart to stop beating. Its a rare condition called commotio cordis and only has a 15 percent survival rate. Jack Lee, a retired Long Beach Firefighter, help perform CPR on his grandson to save his life. See more photos>>
Retired firefighter helps save grandson's life after rare heart injury
About
This blog is a journal of Southern California, through the lens of Jeff Gritchen. It's updated frequently with pictures, photo tips and musings from the various assignments he covers as a staff photographer for the Press-Telegram and Torrance Daily Breeze.
Gritchen has been documenting the diverse city of Long Beach since 1998. He covers everything from the Cambodian community to prep sports to gang ridden neighborhoods to the annual running of the Long Beach Grand Prix. He covered destruction Hurricane Katrina brought to Long Beach, Mississippi and traveled to Southeast Asia to document a rural Cambodian girl's as she traveled to the U.S. for life-altering heart surgery. He has won numerous state and national awards, including an international NPPA Best of Photojournalism award in 2003 and Best News Photo from the Los Angeles Press Club in 2010. In 2011, the photo staffs of the Long Beach Press-Telegram and Torrance Daily Breeze merged. Now he covers all of Southern Los Angeles County. He can be contacted at
jeff.gritchen@presstelegram.com
Gritchen has been documenting the diverse city of Long Beach since 1998. He covers everything from the Cambodian community to prep sports to gang ridden neighborhoods to the annual running of the Long Beach Grand Prix. He covered destruction Hurricane Katrina brought to Long Beach, Mississippi and traveled to Southeast Asia to document a rural Cambodian girl's as she traveled to the U.S. for life-altering heart surgery. He has won numerous state and national awards, including an international NPPA Best of Photojournalism award in 2003 and Best News Photo from the Los Angeles Press Club in 2010. In 2011, the photo staffs of the Long Beach Press-Telegram and Torrance Daily Breeze merged. Now he covers all of Southern Los Angeles County. He can be contacted at
jeff.gritchen@presstelegram.com
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