Firefighters honor children, doctors who rescued drowning 4-year-old at Colorado camp-resort

Colorado firefighters are honoring the quick action of two children and nearby medical professionals who saved a 4-year-old boy from drowning.

The Larkspur Fire Protection District received a call reporting a possible cardiac arrest at the Jellystone Park Larkspur camp-resort on Friday.

Larkspur Fire Chief Tim McCawley said, "We were told a young man had been underwater for about five minutes."

Highlands Ranch resident Alexandra, who preferred not to use her last name, says her family was on vacation at the resort when the trouble began. Her 16-year-old daughter, Megan, and her 15-year-old son, Gabriel, were swimming when they spotted the child at the bottom of the pool, she shared.

"My daughter pulled him up and out and put him on the pool deck. She started calling for help, and my sister, Rebecca, and two other medical personnel responded and did CPR," Alexandra recalled.

McCawley confirmed this, stating that the boy was swimming with his parents in a non-lifeguarded pool in the slide area when he went under. He says two children, including the 16-year-old girl, pulled the little boy from the pool, then others began CPR, including the girl's aunt and a visiting doctor from Seattle.

Alexandra's sister Rebecca, a doctor at Northern Colorado Hospitals, Dr. Brandon VanderWel of Seattle, and Kimberly Davis, a NICU nurse at Presbyterian St. Luke's, are the three medical professionals who say they rushed to help the boy.

Davis says she was visiting Jellystone with her children and sister-in-law when she heard people shouting for help and ran over to assist.

"When I got over there, unfortunately, there was a boy who was lying on the ground, very blue, and appeared to not be breathing at all. I did a quick assessment, felt for a pulse, did not feel a pulse, so I began administering CPR immediately," Davis said.

She says she did a few rounds of CPR when a doctor approached.

"And the boy started coughing up a little bit of water, so I felt pretty confident in passing it over to the doctor so I could make sure my kids got out of the pool as well," said Davis.

Dr. VanderWel said the incident hit close to home. His own son jumped into a pool at four years old and nearly drowned.

"I had nightmares about that for a year. It was like the worst moment of my life," he said, adding that moment may have helped prepare him to act quickly at Jellystone.

VanderWel says he heard the shouts for help and immediately ran over from the other side of the pool, where the boy lay grey and unmoving. In the short time it took for him to reach the child, he says another doctor was already assessing the boy.

"He was grey. No pulse, no breathing," said VanderWel. "She immediately started chest compression. I started rescue breathing."

He says, as they fought to save the child's life, his father showed up by his side: "The dad shows up, like probably five cycles in, and he just gets down by his son and he says, 'Come on, son. come on, son.'"

Within two minutes of them starting CPR, VanderWel says the boy's pulse returned, and he began to breathe again.

"When he gave that first breath, it was one of the most incredible moments I think I will ever experience. His eyes opened, and he started a weak cry," VanderWel recalled.

Davis said it's fortunate that Megan spotted the boy at the bottom of the pool when she did.

"Both my kids are CPR trained and have done a lot of emergency training through American Heritage Girls and Boy Scouts. I am so glad they acted quickly and that my sister was right there," Alexandra said.

"Those kids that pulled that boy out, they're the real heroes," VanderWel said.

The Larkspur Fire Department thought so, too. They dropped by to thank Megan and Rebecca and present them each with a Life Saving Award for their quick action. They also gave a Life Saving Award to Dr. VanderWel for helping with the rescue.

On Sunday, McCawley said the 4-year-old boy is recovering at Children's Hospital Colorado.

"They did a fantastic job. We could not have asked for a better outcome. Those folks did a great job of stepping in before we got there and making sure we had a great outcome," said McCawley. "Jellystone did a great job of responding once they knew about it."

"I am so proud of them all," Alexandra said of her family, adding, "The fact that the boy is going to be OK is the most important part."

Davis echoed her sentiments, stating, "[I'm] so glad he's going to be okay."

VanderWel visited the boy at his home on Monday and said the child had made a full recovery.

"His family is just so thankful, and just meeting him was really, really cool," he said.

Davis stressed that it's important to keep a close eye on children while in the water, even if they know how to swim.

"This was a very hard experience, and I just hope to spread awareness so it doesn't happen again at this location, or just so people know what to look for and to make sure they're watching their kids while swimming," said Davis.

CBS Colorado reached out to Jellystone Park Larkspur for comment, but has not yet received a response.