PHOENIX, Ariz. (AZFam/Gray News) — A 3-year-old boy is fighting for his life after a man spotted him in an apartment complex pool Friday afternoon.
What happened at the Phoenix apartment pool
Martin, a resident at the complex, said he was walking back to his unit when he noticed what looked like a T-shirt in the pool.
“That gut feeling told me I had to walk over no matter what, and even if I was wrong in that moment, you can’t take that chance, not on a kid,” Martin said.
Martin jumped into the water, pulled the child out and called 911. He and another bystander performed CPR on the boy while a dispatcher provided instructions.
Phoenix Fire officials said the child’s father came out around the time Martin was performing CPR.
How long was the child in the water
Capt. Rob McDade of the Phoenix Fire Department said crews do not yet know how long the boy was in the water.
“The status of the child being in extremely critical condition leads us to believe it was more than a little bit of time. It was probably a more extended amount of time that this child was in the pool,” McDade said.
Why CPR training matters in drowning emergencies
McDade said the survivability of a child in a drowning incident is directly based on the immediate CPR that starts when they are pulled from a pool. He urged everyone to learn CPR.
“This is a reminder of you always need to know where they are. It’s the sacrifice that you make when you have children to know where they are,” McDade said.
There is a fence around the pool, but it is not clear if the gate was locked. Phoenix police are investigating.
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