There is a pool in my gated community, about the size of a garbage truck. Every 2 hours someone comes and cleans it, very nicely I might add. It goes from 2 and a 1/2 feet to 8 feet. A swim team meets up there.
I walk slowly from my large house on Gardenia lane to the pool. It was only 6 blocks away.
On the way, I hear a hear a multitude of kids laughing and yelling. On Queen Street, I toss a red ball back to a four year old I know. But nothing exciting happens near me. One time I was in the Macy's in L.A. And we left. 10 minutes later Gwenyth Paltrow walked in and was shopping in the exact same department I was shopping in.
I unlock the door and walk into the pool area. A woman, probably 35, is listening to earphones and is engaged on her iPhone. I roll my eyes. Even I don't use my phone like that.
I pull off my dress, putting my towel on a chair. My book lay with it. This bathing suit is too big for me. I turn around to face the pool and see a little girl, probably 3, paddling wildly in the deep end, gaping for air. Her head bobs under, and I jump in. How could this little girl have gotten into the 6 foot water! How much water has she swallowed?
I swim with efficient, even strokes towards her. She looks at me, and I hold my left arm out. She grabs it, and I pull her in. She grips my arm, sobbing and gasping. Though her face was high above the water, she couldn't breathe.
I pull her out of the water and lay her down. I start to do CPR on her. She closes her eyes and her breathing gets shallow. I look around for someone, but all I see is that wicked woman. I sprint over to her and rip the phone from her hand. The earphones are not connected to the phone any more.
I dial 911 and listen to the ring. "911, what's your emergency?" The woman asks.
"Hi, I have a little girl, possibly 3, and she swallowed a lot of water from a swimming pool? We need an ambulance. We are at 9728 Poline Road in Fields Gated Community. Thank you!" I reply. The woman thanks me, and I hang up.
"Oh my god! What happened to my poor baby! She-she's dying!" The mother cries. I shake my head.
"Here is how you can help. Call 545-5555 and tell her that she needs to come to the pool right away. Chop chop," I tell her. She nods and types it in, her eyes starting to well up. She tells my mom what she needs to know and a minute later Mom's old Toyota is racing into the parking lot. She gets out and runs over to us, emergency kit in hand.
"Oh, what happened??" Mom cries, leaning down next to the little girl.
"Uh, I think she swallowed too much water and she isn't responding. She's been here for about 3 minutes, unconscious. I already called 911. She isn't responding to CPR. Before she blacked out, she coughed up a good amount of water. And-" I am cut off by the scream of sirens and see a paramedic jump out of the slowly moving fire truck. He struggles with the gate, and the young mother opens it for him.
Behind him stride two men with a stretcher. They load the little girl onto it, and head over to the truck. After they get her in, the mom tries to climb in, but a paramedic tells her no. She stumbles back over to us, and falls into Mom's arms. "She'll be okay, don't worry. We'll drive right over there," Mom says. The woman nods and grabs her purse. We shuffle out of the pool area and get into Mom's cars.
15 MINUTES LATER
"Oh is she okay?" the mother sobs when the doctor comes out of the room.
"She should be fine but she inhaled a significant amount of water. She can't talk right now, so don't be too worried. Be safe," the doctor says. The mother thanks him and runs inside. We walk in after her and sit down. The little girl looked terrible. Her face was pale and thin. But she looked peaceful, almost happy. The mom hugs her too tight, and the girl coughs and open her eyes.
She looks at me happily and sits up. COUGHCOUGH. COUGH. She shakes my mother's outstretched hand and shakes it. For three, she was very polite. The mom turns toward us and gives us a bear hug. "Thank you so much for saving her. Thanks a lot. I won't use my iPhone any more. At least when she's around. My goodness," she cries. I sneak out of her hug and then go over to the little girl.
"How long were you in there for?" I ask her. She shrugs her shoulders and I pat her head. "Promise me you won't go into the deep end anymore, okay?" She nods quickly. I gesture to Mom, and we walk out together.
