Surveillance Camera Footage Shows a Drowning 4-Year-Old with Autism Being Rescued by His Neighbor
Ergil Ermeno
A heroic deed was caught on surveillance footage in a neighborhood in Lawrence, Kansas. The four-year-old kid from the footage almost died from drowning if it weren’t for their neighbor — who swiftly jumped in the pool without hesitation. It was reported that the child with nonverbal autism was Xavier Rigney, and he got excited to go outside when his mother was not looking. The kid passed through a locked fence and hurriedly jumped into the pool.
Photo: Youtube/ABC NewsA 12-year-old kid named Maddox Westerhaus witnessed the scene. His friends panicked and asked him to get help. As stated in reports from the authorities, Xavier was in the water for three minutes and 22 seconds. That was a long time for a kid to stay underwater and was indeed a heart-stopping moment.
"His head goes completely under the water. His mouth and nose never come up above the water, and that's why we say they don't have the ability to scream," Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical Lt. Jeff Krall, a paramedic, explained at a press conference. "What you see with his arms, you see just a little bit of movement, we call it climbing, they're trying to climb out of the water.”
Photo: Youtube/ABC NewsWith how worried Maddox and his friends were, he quickly called his dad. Tom swiftly took action and did not hesitate to jump a 6-foot fence. He ran towards Xavier and lifted him out of the pool. Tom gave the kid CPR for over three minutes — he did not give up until Xavier showed signs of breathing.
"When he started to cough up water and everything, I knew that was a good sign," Tom recalled. "It definitely hits home a lot harder having a son myself."
Tom’s quick thinking helped Xavier survive. Three more minutes underwater might have cost the kid’s life. Alexis, Xavier’s mother, met her son’s rescuers during the press conference. She explained that her attention was focused on her four-month-old at that time.
"He's my best friend, so I don't know what I would do without him," Alexis shared in the press conference. Tom and his son Maddox will forever remain heroes, and their actions will be honored — not just in Kansas but by all those they inspire. You can watch the news below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bL9ljsbcS4w
