MISHAWAKA — A grandfather's quick thinking may have saved his grandson's life. The family says they took all the necessary precautions and even had a fence around the pool. But somehow 16-month-old Nicholas Szalay got into the water, and now he’s fighting for his life.

The family has stood vigil around the clock at Memorial Hospital, where Nicholas is in critical condition. He is still on a breathing tube, but they say he's reacting to their touch.

They're taking it day by day, just grateful right now that they still have him in their lives.

It's something no mother should have to go through.

"I just kept saying, ‘God please save my baby, please save my baby, God, please,’ and I just kept saying it and saying it,” Michelle Hutkins told WSBT News.

Hutkins wasn’t home when her son Nicholas fell into the pool and nearly drowned Sunday morning, but fortunately Grandpa was.

"I went out to my deck and something told me to look in the pool,” said Bela Szalay, Nicholas’ grandfather.

He calls what he saw a nightmare — Nicholas lying at the bottom, face down and lifeless.

According to the National Safety Council nearly 3,000 people die every year from drowning. Children 4 years old and younger have the highest death rates from drowning.

And the Centers for Disease Control says that for every child who dies from drowning another four children receive emergency department care for non-fatal submersion injuries.

"I don't remember how I got him out of the pool, I don't remember how I got him on the deck; but all I remember is me giving him CPR,” recalled Bela Szalay.

And as a CPR instructor, Bela Szalay knew what he was doing, but never thought he would have to do it on his own grandson.

"He says he's not a hero, but my dad is,” said Nick Szalay, Nicholas’ father. “He saved his life."

He eventually passed the boy onto paramedics who got a pulse.

The family is now holding on to their prayers.

"I'm trying to stay strong for him, and I just know that he's getting better and I just know he's going to make it,” Hutkins said. “He's fighting, he's a fighter."

The family also credits Bela Szalay's 13-year-old son who called 911, and the Mishawaka paramedics who helped save the boy’s life.

Bela Szalay says once Nicholas is out of the hospital, he plans to make it his mission that all people who have a pool are required to learn CPR — something both Nicholas' parents say they plan to do.