3 Nurses Help Save North Texas Boy Who Fell Into Pool
(CBSDFW.COM) - Three nurses are being credited with saving a North Texas boy's life after he fell into a neighbor's pool.
Texas Health Resources said the nurses -- Jessica Villarreal, Maria Saenz and Lauren Abney -- were in the right place at the right time when they heard cries for help.
According to the hospital system, Grayson McElvain, 5, was in his grandparents' backyard in Mansfield on a Saturday when he wondered and fell into a neighbor's pool. Villareal said she was nearby with her mother, Saenz, and sister, Abney, after they just finished running errands.
Villareal and Saenz are nurses at Texas Health Arlington Memorial.
"We were outside my parents' house, about to leave," Villareal said. "I had just buckled my son into his car seat and that's when we heard screaming."
Villareal had her sister call 911 while she ran toward that neighbor's house. She saw the neighbor carrying Grayson out of the pool and she immediately began CPR, according to the hospital system.
"I did chest compressions for at least five minutes," Villareal said. "I kept going, I never stopped."
Saenz and Abney joined Villareal in aiding with the CPR.
"The three of us were like a team," Villareal said. "My mom was telling me, 'Good job, keep going!' My sister told me to keep my arms straight. They were my two cheerleaders who kept me going."
The boy began breathing again after six minutes of compressions. He was taken to Cook Children's Medical Center in Fort Worth and was able to leave after 23 hours with no complications.
"There's no way we could ever repay them," Grayson's mother, Kristin, said. "I owe Jessica my entire life."
"Jessica and Maria were equipped with the skills needed to impact the outcome of this event," said Shonna Bracco, chief nursing officer at Texas Health Arlington Memorial. "Without them there the outcome could have ended much differently. They're true heroes inside and outside the hospital."
