As public and private pools across the area prepare to open for the Summer 2018 season, one family in De Pere is thankful to have their two-year-old son with them, after almost losing him to drowning a year ago.
Amber Blahnik remembers the day clearly.
“I started to hear screaming coming from the pool area,” she told Local Five. “And I got back here, I had found my little guy blue and stiff laying on the pool deck.”
While the Blahnik family splashed in the backyard pool, two-year-old Korbin had somehow managed to slip into the water undetected.
“His sister had noticed him floating on the surface of the pool and had got him out before I had gotten back,” Amber remembered.
Several members of the family – including Amber, her father, and her 12-year-old daughter – know CPR, and they got to work.
“My dad initiated the rounds of breaths and nothing happened,” Amber said. “At that point, I thought I was going to end up burying my child.”
Then suddenly – Korbin came back to life.
“He started spitting up water and his eyes opened,” said Amber.
First responders arrived on scene and quickly got Korbin to the hospital, where he was treated and released the next day.
De Pere Fire Department Assistant Chief Rich Annen says that Korbin’s full recovery can be attributed to his family’s first aid knowledge.
“People are not educated as well as they should be in CPR or any type of resuscitation,” he told Local Five. “There’s a lot of classes that are out there, we highly recommend that people go out and get as much education as they can in first aid and CPR.”
