Quick thinking saves child from drowning

A young child is recovering from a potentially tragic incident on Tuesday, June 28, thanks to the quick actions of his mother and Lone Star first responders.

Lone Star Police Officer Steven Blythe had gone off duty at 5 p.m. on June 27. At approximately 5:15 p.m., Blythe, who lives near the entrance to the city park, heard a knock on the door. “When I opened the door, there was a juvenile male subject stating a baby had drown in the lake at the park,” said Blythe. Without hesitation, Blythe grabbed his boots and drove to the park.

“I asked the boy if they had called 911, and he said they did not have a phone. I immediately radioed Morris County Dispatch and informed them of the situation and that I needed first responders immediately to the City Park,” Blythe said.

Blythe was informed by dispatch that she was on the phone with a caller on scene, and that first responders were indeed  on their way. “Within 60 seconds of being informed of the situation, I was there. The mother had pulled the child from the water, and was administering Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation,” said Blythe. Blythe encouraged the mother to not stop until either the child awoke, or first responders were on scene.

It was immediately after Blythe arrived that the child did in fact awaken. Within seconds of the child awakening and the mother ceasing CPR, according to Blythe, first responders arrived at the scene. By this time, the child was responsive and crying, which, according to Blythe, was a good thing. EMS treated the child at the scene and had the child airlifted for precaution.

According to the reports of the mother, she had seated the child on the beach, at the water’s edge. After she turned around to check on another child, she turned back to find the young child face first in the water. Blythe, who estimated the child’s age between 7 and 18 months, said that the mother believed the child had been in the water for approximately two to three minutes, and was unresponsive when she pulled him out.