"I pulled him out of the water and helped with the CPR process, hoping he got air," Akinwande recalled.
It was about 2:30 yesterday afternoon when lifeguards here spotted a 7 year old boy floating in the pool. At first, they thought he was just playing.
"I tapped him and he didn't respond," Culbreath added, "so I pulled him out, started CPR, and called 9-1-1. They came very quick."
16 year old Akinwande is a junior at Upper Darby High School. This was her first save. 17 year old Culbreath, a senior at West Catholic High School, says he's made other saves, but nothing that required CPR.
"I was still kind of woozy in my stomach. I had to sit down for a while. I was fine afterward," culbreath said.
A third lifeguard, Mohammed Said, also assisted. The little boy was treated and released at a local hospital. Meanwhile, the teenaged lifeguards say they were just doing the job they're certified to do. But admittedly, they feel pretty good at the end of the day.
To know he was in the hospital, playing with toys, made me feel a lot better," Akinwande said, "like I knew what I was doing and I didn't do this for nothing."
The Nile Swim Club has been open since 1959, and its operators say there have been some bumps and bruises along the way, but thankfully there has never been a drowning.
