3 Year Old Boy Near-Drowning

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ZenDiver.3D

Rejecting Reality
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Kuwait, but home is Savannah, Georgia
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Yesterday afternoon, here in Kuwait, my husband and I were yelling at our kids to get ready to go out to eat. My den windows and french doors open onto the pool deck. I had heard a couple of sets of parents, each with several children, playing and squeeling. The kids were young and most had on water wings. As I was on round three of the get dressed so we can leave mantra, I heard panicked screaming from the pool. I went to my door, and kids were running and screaming and adults were crouching and screaming around something on the ground by the deep end.

I went out my door, but couldn't see what was happening. I really thought there was some bug or maybe a snake there. Another guy walked up as I was walking over and asked if I knew CPR. I then ran to the crowd. The child was a 3 year old boy named Charlie. He was tiny and his parents were shaking him and screaming for him to wake up. Charlie was comletely blue. I do not know how long he had been in the water. He had no breath sounds. I immediately began compressions and rescue breathing, and yelled for someone to call an ambulance.

The parents kept trying to help by pulling him around and leaning over him to shake his head. I told them not to touch him and let me work. My husband came out and took over the breathing while I continued compressions. We gave him cpr for 36 minutes, until the ambulance came. We continued it into the ambulance. As they took him away, we collapsed. By this time, his color had changed from blue to pink, but he was unresponsive. His pupils were fixed and dilated. We did not have much hope, but we had to keep trying.

One hour later, they called from the hospital. Charlie's heart was beating on its own and he had to be sedated, because he had begun trying to pull out the intubation tube. They said that he still had some fluid in his lungs, but they were in good shape, I had not broken any ribs,(unusual for one recieving chest compressions), and he was holding his own. The doctors complemented my hubby and me and said that our cpr saved his life.

I cannot describe the emotions thoughout this experience. It was chaotic. The parents were undestandably distraught, but they were so panicked, they once even tried to pull him away by his feet, yelling to hang him upside down so the water would fall out..... I felt for them. On the other hand, Erick and I were the only people in the entire complex, at that time, who were trained in first aid and cpr. I am now glad that my own kids are so slow at getting ready to leave. We would have been down the street and gone if we were on schedule. After being cpr trained since I was 16 years old, I have never had to use it. Until now.
For God's sakes, if I weren't a diver, I probably wouldn't have kept my certification up.... So, people. Take a cpr course. It may not be your own child, but you may be the only ones who could help one day.
 
Way to go Zen!
 
Even though he prolly won't remember this when he's 12, that kid now has a lil' piece of you in there somewhere and you'll always have a place in your heart for him. It's a pretty cool experience after the commotion settles down and you get to reflect.

My hats off to ya ... well done :clapping:
 
I cannot describe the emotions thoughout this experience. It was chaotic.
I’ve yet to see impromptu life or death follow the script, it was always chaotic.

For me it is feeling awash in a chaotic sea of glory, agony and second guessing, that lasts a long time after.

I wish I could :hug1: and whisper you did the best you could. You did what no one else could or would and you will have the knowledge having saved a life with you forever. Cherish it’s power to ward off the; shoulda’s?
 
Wow, giving aid while fighting off his parents had to be a tough call. And you don't want to think about not having Good Samaritan protections at the time but that's touchy in another country. When in doubt, do the right thing huh?
 
Job well done!!!!!
 
While we were working on Charlie, I kept telling him to fight between rescue breaths. I just wanted him to know we were fighting with him.

After the ambulance left, I couldn't help but ask myself, "What did I do wrong?"

"Why wasn't he breathing?"

I was first trained as a Combat Lifesaver in the US Army in '89. Since then, I have maintained some sort of First Aid/CPR training. This is the first time I ever had to use that training. I just kept second guessing myself. As my wife said, we did not hold much hope.

In retrospect, what we did gave him his best chance of survival. If I learned anything from this it is NEVER stop fighting. NEVER give up. NEVER stop training.
 
After the ambulance left, I couldn't help but ask myself, "What did I do wrong?"
You gave your best shot with a dead child - and you helped a lot. :medal: Hell, you brought him back...!

I guess you know about Critical Indecent Stress or Post Traumatic Stress - and even you can fall for it. Don't - do talk it out.
 
I am a firm believer in the Turning wheel. Somewhere, somehow, sometime, you and your Husband be rewarded. You may never know the moment, but someone's act of kindness will change your life.


BRAVO


:medal: :medal: :medal: :medal: :medal: :medal: :medal: :medal: :medal: :medal: :medal: :medal: :medal: :medal: :medal: :medal:​
 
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