PHOENIX – A young boy was taken to the hospital Saturday after he was pulled from a lake at a south Phoenix park with no heartbeat.
Phoenix fire spokesman Scott McDonald said it appeared the 3-year-old was at a party with his family at Cesar Chavez Park near 35th Avenue and Baseline Road when he wandered away.
McDonald said the boy’s mother found him at the bottom of the lagoon in a shallow section.
Witnesses say he was not breathing and lifeless. He was pulled out of the water by his mother.
Bystanders gave the boy CPR at the scene. Gilbert Acosta was one of the first responders. He said he gave the 3-year-old mouth-to-mouth; blowing air into the boy’s lungs as another woman pumped the child’s chest to get his heart going.
“He had no pulse, he had nothing. He was gone,” Acosta said.
“Just before I started the CPR I did a quick prayer and said, God, give me the strength to help him.”
Acosta said five long minutes went by, and then the child began to cough, and start to breathe again, crying loudly. Acosta brought the child back to life.
An ambulance took the toddler to the hospital. He was released Sunday morning.
Acosta visited him at the hospital and said the little guy was acting like nothing even happened to him.
“His mom was just crying and hugging me saying, “You my angel. Thank you for what you did,” ” Acosta recalled. “I just happened to be at the right place at the right time.”
McDonald said the park was crowded and the family told him they lost track of the boy from the playground for up to five minutes.
The boy is expected to be fine.
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