Four-year-old falls into pool and threatens to drown - luckily the boy next door is nearby
Created: 2022-06-02 17:41
By: Marcus Giebel
An autistic toddler has fallen into a pool in the United States.
A teenager from the neighborhood witnessed the accident and called his father.
In the end, both are awarded.
Munich - Neighbors can sometimes be annoying, but are probably much more useful.
Especially when the milk or butter unexpectedly runs out.
Quite a few people maintain a closer relationship with their neighbors than with most of their own family.
No wonder: you see each other often, strike up conversations, discover common interests and spontaneously spend a good time together from time to time.
The two families that this story is supposed to be about were not really close.
At least until those fateful minutes on May 18, when a 12-year-old boy and his father became lifesavers.
Because without her quick intervention, little Xavier might not be with us anymore.
At least that's the assessment of the first responders who were called to the scene of the accident in Lawrence, Kansas.
Four-year-old falls into pool: Neighbor boy and his father save toddler
Video recordings captured the tragedy that Wednesday.
The first thing you see is a little boy, dressed only in a diaper, who runs past empty deckchairs towards a deserted pool, slowing down all the time, but ultimately falling in without stopping completely.
It is four-year-old Xavier, who is autistic and, according to his mother, unable to speak.
So the little one couldn't draw attention to himself.
Fortunately, the neighbor boy Maddox was nearby and reacted with quick wit.
“My friends shouted at me to get help.
I just thought, 'Oh, no.'
And then I started running," the teenager described the anxious moments during a public appearance by the police, who awarded him and his father Tom Westerhouse for the relief efforts.
Neighbors become lifesavers: Xavier's mother "grateful that he is doing well"
The Police Department described both as "local heroes" who made for an "amazing outcome".
Because Xavier, who was also present at the appointment, is well again thanks to his neighbors and has not suffered any permanent damage from the accident.
His overjoyed mum Alexis tearfully said: "I'm grateful he's doing well.
He is my best friend.
I don't even know what I would do without him. ”On that day she looked after her four-month-old baby because it cried when she realized: Xavier is gone!
She couldn't find him anywhere in the apartment.
Then she heard the sirens and followed the paramedics to the fenced pool belonging to the building complex: "I never thought that he could fall into the pool." At first she couldn't tell if he was moving, "so I didn't know Was everything okay with him?"
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Lucky in misfortune: Thanks to the attentive and quick intervention of the neighbors, a four-year-old survived falling into a pool.
(Icon image) © IMAGO / YAY Images
Autistic Toddler Saved From Drowning: Poolside CPR
The rescue workers later explained that Xavier was under water for three minutes and 22 seconds.
The surveillance camera also shows Westerhouse pulling the little one out of the water and starting CPR right at the edge of the pool.
He fought for Xavier's life for almost three minutes: "When he started coughing up the water, I knew it was a good sign."
He learned the rescue maneuvers more than 15 years ago: "I still remembered the cardiac massage and everything, it all came out of the back of my head." When the rescue workers arrived to replace Westerhouse, Xavier was breathing and awake.
The 100,000-resident city in the Midwest now has two heroes and a small miracle richer.
Xavier's mother after the accident: "Autistic children are attracted to water"
At the same time, attention was drawn to a topic that has hardly been noticed: According to the National Drowning Prevention Alliance - the association for the prevention of such accidents - the risk of drowning is ten times higher for autistic children than for other children.
In one to four-year-olds, it is basically the most common cause of death.
Xavier's mother also learned something important: "Many autistic children love large bodies of water, pools, lakes and the ocean, they feel drawn to them.
I wasn't aware of that until now.” The only question that remains is how the little one got over the fence.
If he stepped over it due to the gravitational pull of the water, that would be another alarm signal.
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