OAKLAND PARK, FLA. (WSVN) - A heroic rescue unfolded just before noon at an apartment complex located at 850 E. Commercial Blvd. in Oakland Park as local fire rescue units rushed to the scene to save a 4-year-old boy from a near-drowning incident.
According to the authorities, two young boys, ages 4 and 1½, were left unattended near the complex’s swimming pool when the incident occurred. A neighbor noticed the 4-year-old boy fall into the pool and pulled the child out of the water.
Through tears, Vicky Bolanos was smiling after what she saw and what she did. She was coming from her apartment complex laundry room when she saw the little boys in the pool alone.
“The little one was near the stairs, the other one was kind of in the middle,” Bolanos said. “He was like moving the hands but stopped moving and went face down — face under the water.”
Bolanos then made her way through a blocked portion of the gate and jumped in.
Immediately, CPR was initiated, and the life-saving efforts proved successful as the boy began to breathe on his own. Oakland Park Fire Rescue transported the child to Broward Health Medical Center for further medical attention.
“And I take him out and he was like, ‘Hello,’ and I started doing the CPR,” Bolanos said. “He was unconscious because the hands and feet were white, he was almost purple. I was really worried because I said, ‘I hope this works because he’s not responding.'”
She learned CPR as a teacher’s assistant and often watched videos of it online, and on this day, it proved invaluable.
“He started throwing up and taking everything out, that’s how he responds,” she said.
The little boys were taken to the hospital, and Bolanos said she understood that both their parents were at work and they’d been in the care of babysitters.
Deputies are still trying to sort out what led to the boys being alone in the pool.
At the hospital, the young boy’s condition improved, and he is now reported to be awake and breathing independently. The boy’s younger brother, who was also taken to the hospital, has been declared to be in good health. Hospital staff ensured they remained together during the ordeal.
“When I did the CPR I was shaking,” Bolanos said. “You never know when it can happen to you. I’m happy, but I was really scared. Thank God they’re OK.”
The Broward Sheriff’s Office Special Victims Unit is investigating the circumstances surrounding the near drownings. A Department of Children and Families representative was also notified to investigate.
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