A 6-year-old boy has become a hero after he pulled his drowning toddler twin cousins from a backyard pool in Louisiana.
Branson Lee pulled his own little brother from the pool’s top step, then saw that his 21-month-old cousins floating face-down. He pulled them out and yelled for help, Steven Kelley, the twins’ father, said.
Kelley says that the twins were limp and “blue as a pair of blue jeans” when he began CPR about 10 p.m. on Sunday, and their speedy and complete recovery is a miracle.
“Anybody can bring a pulse back. I’m a first responder at work, and I’m blessed to have that training,” he said. “But I cannot do anything to bring them back to themselves.”
The twins’ Mom, Jeannie Kelley, told The News-Star of Monroe that after 30 seconds, Kaden began coughing up water and breathing. Another 30 seconds later, Isaac did, too.
Steven Kelley said the boys were breathing shallowly before a fire truck arrived. Rescue workers gave the children oxygen, and they were airlifted to a hospital in Shreveport, in northwest Louisiana.
“Within 30 minutes, they were talking in sentences,” he said. “Praise to God we’re not dealing with two boys who are intubated with no brain functions.”
That very morning, Kelley said, both sides of the family were in church to dedicate the twins to God.
Some family members reportedly visited the home after the church service and went swimming. After the party ended, the door to the pool area was accidentally left opened and the twins were able to get in.
Kelley said that while he drove to Shreveport, he prayed, “God, we dedicated these babies to you. We entrusted their welfare and safety to you. We want them back, nothing less than perfect.”
By Monday morning, he said, they had pulled out the children IV tubes. Doctors “sent them home after 36 hours because the children were jumping off the window sill,” he said.