A three year old girl is recovering after she nearly drowned in an apartment complex pool on Monday.
Two nursing students tell 6 News they saw a mother struggling to save her child, so they jumped in to help. Courtney Stahl says she jumped in first after realizing what was happening. "I remember opening up my eyes and then I grabbed her and she just kind of looked lifeless. I knew she was unresponsive by just looking at her at the bottom of the pool and it was seconds. It just happened so quickly."
When Stahl got above the water, she handed the girl off to fellow nursing student Miranda Schilling. "Like Courtney said, I started compressions on the child. We did two cycles of CPR."
Schilling says they worked to revive the little girl, a witness called 911. "She was coughing up and spitting up water. And, she started to breathe and have a pulse. We brought her over here with her mom and just kept trying to keep her awake until paramedics got here."
The women both described the situation as surreal.
"The mom kept saying, 'Thank you, Jesus,' when she was coming up out," said Schilling.
"They wanted to help, but I don't think they knew how to help," added Stahl.
The women said they were glad they had the training to help save the little girl's life. The girl was transported to Children's Hospital awake and breathing. There is not an update on her condition at this time.