This is the amazing moment when a Kansas man saved his neighbor’s four-year-old son with autism from drowning by pulling him out of a pool and doing CPR in nearly three minutes.
Fifteen years have passed since Tom Westerhouse of Lawrence was trained in resuscitation, but when his 12-year-old son Maddox came to seek help for little Xavier, Westerhouse’s father’s instincts prevailed.
The heroic father rushed to the pool of his apartment complex and, without thinking twice, jumped over a fence to pull Xavier out of the water.
Heartbreaking footage from the May 18 incident shows Westerhaus giving CPR for two minutes and forty-one seconds to a little boy who is autistic and nonverbal.
“When I started coughing up water … I knew it was a good sign,” Westerhouse said.
Xavier’s mother, Alexis Rigni, said she was extremely grateful that Maddox was playing with friends around the pool and said she could not figure out what would have happened if Westerhouse had not saved her son.
“I do not know what I would do if [Maddox] he would not be in the pool and had not seen [Xavier]She said in tears.
Since then, Westerhaus and Maddox have received Hometown Hero Awards on behalf of the Lawrence Fire Department for their heroic deeds.
During a press conference, they also met with Raine and had the opportunity to see Xavier, who has fully recovered.
This is the amazing moment, Kansas father Tom Westerhouse saved his neighbor’s four-year-old son with autism from drowning by pulling him out of the pool and doing CPR in nearly three minutes
It had been fifteen years since Westerhouse of Lawrence had been trained in resuscitation, but when his 12-year-old son Maddox came to seek help for little Xavier, Westerhouse’s father’s instincts prevailed.
Since then, Westerhaus and Maddox have received Hometown Hero Awards on behalf of the Lawrence Fire Department for their heroic deeds during a press conference they met with Reign and also had the opportunity to see Xavier.
Lawrence’s fire service shared Westerhaus’s bold actions in the hope that it would raise awareness of how immediate action can differentiate between life and death in emergencies.
The incident happened on May 18, after the mother Alexis Raine took a quick break in the bathroom.
Raine said she then went to pick up her 4-month-old daughter, who was crying, but Xavier did not find him.
“So I went to his room and checked and he wasn’t there,” Raine told a news conference at which Westerhaus and his son were awarded.
“I went to the living room because he was playing in the living room, there was the TV, and he wasn’t there, but the door was open.”
Xavier was first spotted by 12-year-old Maddox as the younger boy lay motionless in the pool. According to authorities, he was in the water for three minutes and twenty-two seconds.
“My friends were shouting for me to go for help, and I just said ‘oh no’ and ran away,” Maddox said.
The incident happened on May 18, after the mother Alexis Raine took a quick break in the bathroom. Raine said she then went to pick up her 4-month-old daughter, who was crying, but Xavier did not find him.
Xavier was first spotted by 12-year-old Maddox as the younger boy lay motionless in the pool. According to authorities, he was in the water for three minutes and twenty-two seconds
Lawrence Fire Department shared Westerhaus’s bold actions, hoping to raise awareness of how immediate action can differentiate between life and death in emergencies.
Tom Westerhouse (right) and his son Maddox Westerhouse (left)
There were moments of pure grief when Raine noticed sirens and emergency vehicles approaching the building complex.
“I didn’t see anyone, but I could see the paramedics and the fire department coming into the back of the building, so I followed them and Xavier was pulled out of the pool,” the desperate mother said.
“But I didn’t see him move, so I didn’t know he was fine then.”
Raine said anything could happen in minutes and that she has since learned that children with autism are particularly attracted to water bodies.
“Many children with autism, they love large pools, pools, lakes and the ocean. I didn’t know until I was in the hospital, they gave me a lot of information about children with autism, “she said.
According to the National League for the Prevention of Drowning, children with autism are ten times more likely to drown.
Since then, Xavier has fully recovered, his grateful mother said.
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