California first responder saves 1-year-old son from drowning in pool: video
A Southern California firefighter rescued his 1-year-old son from drowning in a pool on Tuesday, Ring video shows.
The Hemet Firefighters Association shared the footage on social media, asking parents to take note of how quickly children can drown. The boy in the video, Cole, is too young to know how to swim.
The association told Fox News Digital that the father is Zachary Petite, a fire engineer and paramedic at Hemet Fire Department. Cole is Petite’s youngest son.
The 40-second video shows the 1-year-old boy waddling around the pool and eventually jumping in. As soon as the boy gets in the water, Petite swiftly jumps on the ground and gets his son out, laying him on his back.
“This video is a sobering reminder that a child drowning can happen to anyone at any time in a matter of seconds,” the Hemet Firefighters Association said on Facebook. “Even though both parents took all proper precautions including a gate around the pool and an appropriate PFD [Personal Flotation Device], the boy still managed to get in the water.”
“Remember, children drown without a sound, please watch the video,” the association added.
The Hemet Firefighters Association commended Petite for saving his son.
“Even though young Cole Petite managed to find his way into the water without being noticed, Zack and [his wife] Jessica’s proactive approach to pool safety is the reason their son survived,” the organization told Fox News Digital.
Petite told local news outlet KTLA that his son was sinking to the bottom of the pool before the rescue.
“I look over and I can’t find him and I ended [up] seeing him sinking to the bottom of the pool,” Petite explained. “So that’s when I went over there, scooped him out and got him out of the pool.”
“For parents out there, if you got a pool, make sure it has a gate, a child safety lock, door alarms,” the father warned.
Source: New York Post
