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7-year-old credited with saving toddler from drowning

Swimming pool side
Posted at 10:47 AM, Jul 29, 2022
and last updated 2022-07-29 10:47:24-04

Massiah Browne, a 7-year-old boy, is being hailed as a hero for potentially saving the life of a toddler in a California swimming pool.

Massiah recounted to ABC’s “Good Morning America” the actions he took to save a 3-year-old toddler from drowning.

"I was just playing in the pool and then I saw a boy at the bottom of the pool," he told “GMA.” "And I went to go get him."

The toddler was 6 feet deep with his eyes and mouth open, Massiah said. That’s when the 7-year-old dove into the water, grabbed the boy’s arm and pulled him to the surface.

A Sacramento Fire spokesperson told ABC News that bystanders performed CPR on the boy before paramedics arrived. The boy was in critical condition at a hospital.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that parents not leave toddlers unsupervised near water. The AAP said that drowning is the No. 1 cause of injury death among children ages 1-4.