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12-Year-Old Trapped Underwater at Resort for 9 Minutes After Leg Gets Stuck

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A 12-year-old Michigan boy was on vacation in North Mrtyle Beach, South Carolina, last month when the afternoon went from relaxing to terrifying in a split second.

Video footage from the Avista Hotel’s surveillance camera shows the boy and a friend playing in the lazy river near a drain.

The two boys can be seen diving under the water repeatedly and lifting the three-foot grate, when suddenly, the 12-year-old’s head goes underwater and does not come back up.

His foot had been sucked into the pool’s suction lines, trapping him under the water, and no matter how hard his friend tried, he could not free him.

For the next 90 seconds, the other boy frantically began calling for help until a nearby woman jumped in to try to pull him out.

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Nearly 25 seconds later, a Pennsylvania corrections officer named Shaun Skursky was seen running over with his family. He wasted no time jumping into the pool to help with the rescue.

As one adult called 911 and emergency responders were on the way, Skursky knew the boy wouldn’t be able to make it until they arrived without his help.

Skursky knew he needed to keep the boy alive, and began performing CPR on him underwater before continuing to try to pull him out.

When police finally arrived, the 12-year-old had been underwater for 7 minutes and 22 seconds.

Another 20 seconds ticked by as police worked with hotel staff to shut down the pool pumps. Finally, they were able to free the boy after nearly 9 minutes underwater and immediately performed CPR to revive him.

Thanks to the heroic efforts of bystanders and first responders, the boy was able to go home alive.

Warning: the following video may be disturbing to some readers.



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The hotel has since reassured hotel guests and the media that their pool is entirely safe for use and that the filtration system was up to code. The grate the boys had removed before the harrowing ordeal was there for safety.

“I’m just happy that he’s alive,” Skursky said. “Honestly, if it wasn’t for everyone that helped me, it probably wouldn’t have been the same outcome.”

“It’s just something I felt like I had to do, and I’m glad I did it because now this little boy gets to live the rest of his life out,” he added.

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Liz was a senior story editor for The Western Journal.
Liz was a senior story editor for The Western Journal.
Location
Arizona
Languages Spoken
English, Spanish
Topics of Expertise
Health, Entertainment, Faith




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