Revival in Emerson Longtime State Delegate helps rescue drowning boy
n BY JASON COHEN
Mike Graham, who served Northern Valley Local 233 as its State Delegate for so many years, was relaxing by the pool on this Memorial Day. But the many NJ State PBA members who have witnessed Graham’ s devotion to the organization know he is never really off duty. So it was no surprise when Graham jumped into action on his day off.
On May 28, Graham and his family were at a gathering at a residence on Colonial Road in Emerson. He was schmoozing with friends, eating and swimming. But, out of nowhere, commotion broke out and everyone was staring at the pool.
Someone yelled that a boy was drowning. Another guest, Thomas Mullhern, jumped in the water to recuse the child. Graham instinctively dropped what he was doing and ran over to help.
“ If it wasn’ t for him( Mulhern) acting so quickly, who knows what would have happened,” Graham credited.
Graham was not fazed by the situation. The child was unconscious, he wasn’ t breathing and his lips were turning blue. With everyone nervously looking on, Graham began to administer CPR.
After a few chest compressions and blowing air into his mouth, the child started to breathe and instantly regurgitated the water he ingested. Graham said by the time the paramedics arrived, the child was upright and talking. The child was taken to Hackensack University Medical Center, where he was listed in good condition.
“ You want to get oxygen in him as fast as possible,” Graham explained. He added that it could have been much worse, but fortunately everyone acted in a timely manner. Looking back at the situation, he acknowledged that it was scary, but he couldn’ t let fear control him.
“ When something like that happens, you just revert to your training,” Graham commented.“ I was just fortunate to be in the right place at the right time. I think it’ s the last thing that anyone expected.”
Graham, 41, of Emerson, has been on the job for more than 20 years, and his chief at the Northvale Police Department, William Essmann, was not surprised by Graham’ s reaction.
“ Officer Graham is an experienced, seasoned, well-rounded officer,” Essmann said.“ We’ re a small department that is service-oriented. All of our officers are like that. Make no mistake about it, Officer Graham’ s actions that day were nothing short of heroic.”
Graham, who does not describe himself as brave, said what he did was just part of his job. Still, The Mayday Missions recognized Graham and Mulhern for their role in saving the child’ s life.
Mayday Missions is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping members of public safety services, including police, fire and EMS, as well as their families, in times of crisis, adversity or hardship. Graham is a member of the Mayday Missions Board
of Directors.
Throughout his tenure as a law enforcement officer and member of Local 233, Graham has always put others first and credits his parents, Mike and Peggy, for that. His father was involved in coaching, and his mom often volunteered. He said they always told him how important it is to give back.
“ It definitely makes a police officer’ s job more enjoyable,” he said of his relentless desire to serve his community and numerous charities for which he has helped raised money through Local 233 events.
Though Graham was modest and not one to boast about his actions, this is not his first time in the heroic spotlight. He has been honored a few times during his career.
In 2010 and 2011 Graham won the 200 Club of Bergen County Lifesaving Award, and last year he was one of three recipients of the Benevolent Protective Order of the Elks Officer of the Year from the Closter Elks Lodge. He was recognized for investigating a child pornography case that led to the arrest of a suspect for endangering the welfare of a child and possession of child pornography.
Graham served as Northern Valley Local 233 State Delegate from 2003 to 2013. He still is an active member and does a lot of charity work, including helping with the Special Olympics run, organizing his Local’ s team for the Special Olympics Polar Bear Plunge.
“ It’ s something that was instilled in me when I was young,” he said, referring to giving back.“ Police officers throughout the country do many positive things on a daily basis.” d
68 NEW JERSEY COPS ■ JUNE 2017