You won’t believe how young this kid out of California was when he saved a toddler from drowning. Massiah Browne, of Sacramento, was enjoying a day at the pool during this heat spell at his apartment complex when his mother and brother noticed something strange.
“I was just playing in the pool and then I saw a boy at the bottom of the pool, and I went to go get him,” said the young second grader Massiah.
The seven-year-old who was in the pool with his older 9-year-old family member, dove down into six feet of water to save a toddler who was drowning, as per his mother, Tiara Delvalle, who said she hurried to the scene from her apartment after being alerted by other family members who were with her child at the pool.
That’s right, the younger child, Massiah, was the one to quickly think and spring into action despite there being an older family and also his older sibling being present. Thank goodness he was around.
Massiah said he saw the 3-year-old kid, who was a stranger, stuck deep in the water and had his mouth and eyes open and dove down to save him, snatching his arm and pulling him to the pool’s surface. From that point, his 9-year-old family member, a young lady named Savannah, maneuvered the kid onto the pool deck, where grown-ups frantically came to help and afterward called 911.
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Like a scene out of a movie his 9-year-old family member quickly tried performing CPR on the young boy, but was unable to revive him, and when nothing was working after the adults stepped in, that’s when the doctor was called.
A representative for the Sacramento Fire Department affirmed that people on call answered an emergency call at the apartment building’s pool on July 19 and that multiple observers tried performing CPR on the toddler, who according to the representative was breathing again once they were on the phone with the adults.
“The child was transported in critical condition with advanced life support efforts provided by Sacramento firefighters,” the representative said.
Marcus Browne, Massiah’s dad who is a boxer who happens to have competed for the United States at the 2012 London Olympics said in a statement that although his son is a very good swimmer, even he was taken by surprise when he heard of why the community is calling him a hero – and rightfully so.
In the U.S. alone drowning is the leading cause of death for children between the ages of 1 and 4, and the second cause of death in children who are up to the age of 14 years old, as per the CDC and Prevention.
Massiah’s mom, Delvalle has been in contact with the toddler’s mother ever since the incident and says the boy is as of now doing well, and that it’s a miracle that he survived thanks to the quick thinking of her son.
This is one cautionary tale that although ended with everyone being safe thanks to God placing the right people in the exact right places, we should be mindful as to what is going on in our surroundings at all times, especially as parents, you can never be too careful.