Tanah Zuniga was hanging out with her sister Karly James in her Fort Worth, TX, home when the pair noticed Karly's 2-year-old son walking through the back door [1]: he and Tanah's 17-month-old son, Elijah, had gotten out of the house and now Elijah was drowning in their above-ground pool [2].
Tanah immediately sprung into action and pulled Elijah [3] — who had been floating in the water for five minutes — out of the pool and started performing CPR on him [4]. Thankfully, the toddler eventually regained consciousness, but Tanah and Karly were still shaken to the core.
"My heart just dropped. When I saw him I literally thought 'that's a baby doll, that can't be my son,'" said Tanah, adding that: "A part of me knew he was gone. His lips were blue, his face was white."
Fortunately, doctors have said Elijah doesn't show any signs of long-term brain damage and is making a speedy recovery.
According to Jim Spiers, a swim safety expert, parents can prevent drowning from happening by investing in an alarm system for their house's door or a pool alarm that will alert them with a loud beeping noise if their kids fall in. He also recommends installing fences around pool areas as well as stairs with a lockable gate.