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3-year-old firefighter in viral video shows it's never too early to learn how to save lives

Posted at 2:51 PM, Nov 07, 2019
and last updated 2019-11-07 15:02:09-05

BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. — A 3-year-old Florida boy is being called a "viral hero."

Asher Shell comes from a family of first responders, and he's proving it runs in the family.

"We're just a family of first responders, and we're trying to teach the little ones young," said Christopher Shell, a Boynton Beach Fire Department firefighter and paramedic.

Shell has been a firefighter since 2008. His wife, Jenna, is a Boca Raton dispatcher, and even Shell's in-laws are first responders.

"I think it's a coincidence," said Shaul Fuchsman, Shell's father-in-law and member of the Palm Beach County Air Rescue. "It's a very demanding and rewarding industry."

So it's no wonder that when Shell was called out to an emergency on Nov. 1, Ashed begged his father to tag along.

"I got toned out to a call and [Asher] got so upset that he couldn't come with me on the call to help save people - all he kept crying was 'I want to go save people,'" Shell said.

That's when he and his wife devised a plan two days later to stage a mock CPR drill complete with a response via a Power Wheels fire truck, a real fire and a 10-pound trapped patient.

While the approximately one-and-a-half-minute is gaining a lot of traction online, the family hopes it sends a strong message to all parents.

"If I can teach a three-year-old how to do CPR anybody can learn how to do CPR," said Shell. "It's not hard and we should all learn how to do it so that way one day you can help save a life."

The Shells video has been shared more than 20,000 times. Watch the full video below.

This story was originally published by Arthur Mondale on WPTV in West Palm Beach.