DANIA BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) - A fast-acting neighbor pulled a 1-year-old boy from a lake in Dania Beach, saving the child’s life.
“I just dove in and got the baby. The baby was maybe 15 feet out,” said Carl Dickey, the man who rescued the child. “God happened to put me in the right place at the right time.”
The incident took place at approximately 12:15 p.m., Tuesday. Dickey was at his home near the 2800 block of Lagoon Drive when he heard the child’s mother in a panic.
“The neighbor lady across the street came running out saying, ‘My baby, my baby,'” said Dickey. “She come across the street to my front yard, and she said, ‘My baby,’ and I said, ‘What’s wrong with the baby?’ And she said, ‘The baby’s in the lake.'”
Dickey then jumped into the lake in an attempt to save the child.
“I grabbed the baby. The baby was face up, and I put the baby in front of me,” said Dickey, “and somebody else jumped in and put the baby on the sea wall, and I started giving the baby CPR.”
Dickey tried to resuscitate the 1-year-old until paramedics arrived.
Broward Sheriff’s Office deputy Brian Goolsby arrived around a minute after the baby was pulled from the water.
“I jumped down there and tried to get a pulse. There was no pulse,” said Goolsby.
When paramedics arrived, they had Dickey continue to perform CPR while they used a manual resuscitator, until they could feel a pulse.
“The baby gasped for air a few times. We did see some signs of life,” said Goolsby.
“And he said the baby has a pulse, and when he said that, EMS was right behind me,” said Dickey. “They picked up the baby and rushed the baby to the EMS.”
Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue Battalion Chief Michael Kane was also on the scene.
“We call it the chain of survival,” said Kane, “and the chain of survival begins with early recognition that CPR is needed.”
He said had it not been for Carl’s quick thinking, the boy could have died.
“Certainly this situation would be completely different had this Good Samaritan, this neighbor, not stepped in,” said Kane.
Kane said the child was rushed to Joe DiMaggio’s Children’s Hospital where he arrived breathing and crying.
“You know, you only have a few minutes of being able to be under water before bad things start happening,” said Goolsby.
Dickey expressed his relief that the child was alive.
“Thank God he’s alive. My heart is still beating,” said Dickey. “I hate to say it, but my heart is still pounding.”
The little boy remains in critical condition at the hospital.
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