A 19-year-old lifeguard rescued a 5-year-old child who had become submerged in a pool at the Bellows Farms condominium complex in Acton and was able to get the boy breathing again with CPR, officials said.
Acton police and fire went to the condo complex on Davis Road around 5:08 p.m. on Sunday after receiving a report of a young child pulled from a pool. When first responders arrived, they learned a 5-year-old boy had been swimming when his flotation devices came off and he went underwater, Acton Police Chief James Cogan and Fire Chief Anita Arnum said in a joint statement.
The boy was underwater for about 30 seconds before the lifeguard jumped in and pulled him out of the pool, according to the statement. When he was pulled from the water, the boy was not breathing and the lifeguard began CPR. The lifeguard performed two rounds of CPR before first responders arrived and the boy began breathing on his own.
An Acton police officer arrived a “short time later” and evaluated the boy, who was “alert and oriented,” officials said in the statement. The boy was then brought to a local hospital.
Investigators determined the boy’s parents were along the side of the pool when he drifted toward the deep end and ultimately slipped beneath the surface, according to the statement. The lifeguard was on a scheduled break but was in the pool area at the time.
“Chief Cogan and Chief Arnum would like to commend the lifeguard who helped to rescue the boy from the water and performed CPR to get the boy breathing again,” the statement reads.
