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Pond at Remington Court Apartments in Mishawaka. (Photo courtesy of www.apartmentguide.com) (October 2, 2012) |
MISHAWAKA – A little boy nearly drowned after falling into a pond behind a Mishawaka apartment complex late Tuesday morning.
Witnesses told WSBT the boy was 3- or 4-years-old and was autistic. He tried to reach for something colorful in the water and fell in.
Mishawaka police, firefighters and EMT workers all responded to the scene at the Remington Court Apartments on Main Street in Mishawaka around 11:30 a.m.
The boy's mother was on the phone, turned around and realized he was outside, face down in the pond. She started yelling for help.
Cathy Gee of LaPorte was painting a nearby apartment when she heard the screams and ran outside.
"So I come jetting out, ran down the stairs, booked out to the water and pulled him out," said Gee. "He was completely blue and his lips purple, and he was convulging, definitely not breathing. I flipped him over my arm, pushed on him and got the water out and slowly got him back to breathing."
Gee says the boy was about 4 feet from shore. She believes he had been underwater for about 3 minutes.
We're told the boy does not live at the complex but was with his mother there because she was babysitting another child for a friend or relative.
"I'm just thankful he's going to be okay," added Gee. "I couldn't have handled it if he weren't.
The boy was taken by ambulance to the hospital for observation. His name has not been released.
