A toddler was pulled from a pool in Haverhill, Massachusetts, and flown to a Boston hospital in critical condition, police said.
Officers and paramedics raced to a home on Groveland Street after a 911 call came in Wednesday afternoon about an unconscious child.
Relatives say a mom and her 2-year-old daughter were inside the house, while a 12-year-old sibling and her friend, a 12-year-old boy, were playing outside.
Somehow, the 2-year-old got separated from her mom, made it outside, and fell in the backyard pool.
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"When she fell in the pool, one of the sibling's friends jumped in, grabbed her, instantly pulled her out," said family relative Kelsi Swiger. "He called 911."
Swiger says the family had taken the necessary precautions to keep the pool area secure.
"There's a gate, there's a lock, there's every possible thing you can imagine to keep all the kids safe," said Swiger.
The 12-year-old boy who made the rescue was shaken up by what happened.
"He's obviously emotional, because he feels he could do more or could have done more," said Swiger. "And we just keep telling him, 'You did everything right, you jumped right in, you got her, you called 911.'"
Paramedics performed CPR on the 2-year-old.
Swiger says this is a reminder about always being very careful about pool safety, but says the child has excellent parents.
"It wasn't because she wasn't watching them or anything like that," said Swiger. "It can happen to anybody, it's a freak accident."
The child was flown to a Boston hospital for treatment.
