Children's Safety Zone

GLENDALE, AZ – It takes just seconds to lose track of your kids around water. A lesson a quick-thinking neighbor learned first hand after saving a 1-year-old drowning victim.

That hero, Ray Espinoza of Glendale, was honored for his bravery.

“She’s like my baby, my baby,” recalls Espinoza.

He described the horrifying day on July 13th, when 1-year-old Nevaeh was found face down in the backyard swimming pool with no pulse and not breathing.

“So I grabbed her and started doing CPR,” Espinoza said.

Espinoza, now 28 years old, was certified in CPR as a teenager. He said his lifesaving skills quickly kicked in to help the little girl whose name is Heaven spelled backwards.

“I knew she was going to be okay,” Espinoza smiled.

He’s Nevaeh’s neighbor and was walking by the Glendale home several weeks ago when he heard the child’s grandmother desperately screaming for help.

“It was just like an angel,” said Nevaeh’s grandmother Catherine Bruce. “He just took her out of my hands and he started to work on her.”

As fate would have it, Espinoza’s father couldn’t drive him to work that day so he was walking to the bus stop.

“All I could is scream. Just uncontrollable scream,” Bruce said.

Espinoza continued performing CPR until fire and ambulance crews arrived to assist him.

By the time Nevaeh was rushed to Phoenix Children’s Hospital she was breathing on her own.

On Tuesday, Glendale Fire Department presented Espinoza with the Lifesaving Award for helping to save Nevaeh.

“I’m going to hang this up,” Espinoza said while holding his certificate. “I think this is going to help me move on in life more.”

An honor that rescue crews hope will teach others a life saving lesson.

“Make sure that you provide adult supervision any time a child is around water,” urged Glendale Fire Department’s Chris Dechant.

PHOENIX –

A 3-year-old girl is recovering after nearly drowning in an apartment complex swimming pool and she’s alive all thanks to the quick actions of her cousin.

Firefighters say the girl was in the pool area with her family near 40th Street and Indian School Road.  She didn’t want to leave the pool, so she jumped in and tried to swim, but started to go under.  That’s when her cousin, who is a lifeguard, went to save her.

“Don’t get a false sense of security when there’s a lot of people around the pool,” said Sgt. Marty Nickel of the Phoenix Police Department.  “That’s when you lose track of the little ones.”

The child was taken to an area hospital and is expected to be okay.

No names were released in this case.

FOX 10 News – Phoenix, AZ | KSAZ-TV

A Valley father received a call that his 1-year-old son was in the hospital and they weren’t sure if he was going to survive.

It was May 13, 2008 when Eric Myers’ wife went to check on her son who was being watched by a relative.

That relative had a backyard swimming pool, but no fencing around it.

The boy was found floating in the water. He had been in there for four minutes.

Four years later, Myers took part in a news conference hosted by the Mesa Fire Department and Cardon Children’s Medical Center warning parents about the dangers of unsupervised children in homes with pools.

“Go home tonight,” Myers said, “sit on the couch with your kids and actually look at a clock. Watch the hands move and count four minutes. Watch how many times your child takes a breath during that time and imagine those breaths being robbed by water.”

Doctors were able to save Myers’ son, who is now a healthy 5-year-old, he said.

So far this year, seven children have drowned in the Valley.

GLENDALE, AZ – Authorities say a 6-month old girl has died Tuesday morning after she was left unattended in a bathtub.

The incident happened around 4:30 a.m. at an apartment complex near 59th Avenue and Bethany Home Road.

Glendale police Sgt. Brent Coombs said the baby soiled her diaper, and her parents took her to the bathtub to clean her up.

The parents reportedly left her unattended for a brief moment and returned to find the baby in the water.

Glendale fire officials said the girl was pulled from the tub and appeared blue.

Police officers first arrived on scene and performed CPR on the girl.

They were able to revive her, but her condition worsened either on the way to the hospital or upon arrival.

Coombs said the infant was fighting for her life in the hospital until she passed away a few hours later.

Officers were conducting an investigation at the scene with police tape surrounding the home.

It’s unclear if any charges will be filed.

Mesa fire crews responded to two separate drowning calls seven minutes apart Saturday afternoon.

Fire officials said both calls involved 3-year-old males who had been under water for an unknown period of time.

The first incident occurred just after 3 p.m. near Elliot and Meridian roads in east Mesa.

Officials said an adult male had started CPR and when paramedics arrived the child was breathing and alert. The boy went to Cardon’s Children’s Hospital.

The second call was made just minutes later and appeared more critical.

Mesa police spokesman Anthony Landato said this incident happened near Baseline and Crismon roads.

Fire officials said the child was “in full arrest” with CPR in progress. That 3-year-old boy was also transported to Cardon’s Children’s Hospital where he was pronounced dead.