Mom Saves Daughter in Near Drowning

Morgan Hill
– A mother’s quick, instinctive action saved the life of
3-year-old Maya Hernandez this week as she lay at the bottom of a
pool.
Morgan Hill – A mother’s quick, instinctive action saved the life of 3-year-old Maya Hernandez this week as she lay at the bottom of a pool.

The family of five was relaxing by the pool in the Morgan Village complex Wednesday, visiting friends, when Maya’s mother, Patricia Campos, 27, went to the apartment to make a phone call.

Her father, Antonio Palomares, was watching the children and needed to change Maya’s 6-month-old sister’s diaper. 

While he was busy with the diaper, little Maya slipped unnoticed into the pool.

“Dad had told her, before he started to change the diaper, to put her floaties on, so she may have thought it was OK to go ahead and get in the water,” said Morgan Hill police officer Greg Dini, who was first on the scene.

Whatever the reason, when Campos returned to the pool area, she saw her daughter lying on the bottom of the pool.

“She shrieked, ‘Maya,’ and dove right in,” Dini said. 

Campos pulled her daughter out of the pool and started to administer CPR right away. Maya vomited a few times, and Campos continued to work on her until paramedics arrived to take over. When she was loaded into the ambulance to go to Saint Louise Regional Hospital, she was breathing and responsive, Dini said.

Campos said she can’t even describe what she felt when she saw her daughter in the pool.

“I was not really thinking at all,” she said Thursday. “It was the scariest thing. I can’t believe I did it. It’s still just like unreal to me.” 

Her daughter was discharged Thursday afternoon, with just a slight edema of the lungs, meaning some fluid is trapped in her lungs. She is expected to make a complete recovery, Campos said.

“She was crying to go swimming this afternoon, but we’re trying to distract her now,” she said Thursday. “We have a kiddie pool in the backyard, but I don’t think we want her to swim today.”

Maya’s 12-year-old brother, Isaiah, was upset Wednesday, Campos said, but felt better when he could talk to his sister on the phone. 

“I think he’s going to be more protective over her. We’re already seeing that today,” Campos said. “He’s a good swimmer; he learned when I worked at the YMCA, so I don’t think this would give him a fear of swimming, but I know he’s going to be very protective of her.”

There was no question of negligence in the accident, Dini said.

“This is a case where, really, it could happen to anyone,” he said. “It doesn’t take long. You can be distracted for an instant, turn around, and they’re in the pool. It’s hard for one person to watch four kids, especially younger ones. This is every parent’s nightmare.”

The best way to prevent a tragedy is for parents and caregivers to know how to perform CPR, but even more important, teach children to swim at an early age, Dini added. 

“Get the kids in swim class; the first thing they teach them is the dog paddle, to reach for the side,” he said. “Even something basic like that can give you time to see them splashing around and get them out.”

Campos, who works part-time at the Morgan Hill Animal Hospital, said she was certified in CPR when she worked at the YMCA and was recently certified.

Police special operations Sgt. David Swing reiterated the importance of vigilance when watching kids at the pool.

“It truly only takes a minute,” he said. “Parents need to remember to be very observant with children around water, especially when they have more than one child to keep an eye on. We’re absolutely grateful that mom got there so soon, was able to pull her out of the pool and start some rescue breathing.”

Though the whole impact of what happened Wednesday afternoon probably hasn’t sunk in yet, Campos said, she has thought a little about what she would tell other parents, if they asked her about it.

“Definitely I would say take CPR, don’t wait, try not to be distracted when you’re with the kids at a pool, even if there’s a lifeguard, and don’t take life for granted,” she said. 

Campos was already picking up forms from the Aquatic Center to enroll her youngest daughter in swimming lessons.

Marilyn Dubil covers education and law enforcement for The Morgan Hill Times.