R.J. Smith Nelson almost drowned Monday in Rockville, Maryland, but strangers saved the 7-year-old’s life when they pulled him out of a swimming pool.
Family members said they were only feet away from him moments before he fell to the bottom of the pool. Montgomery County Fire crews rushed to the scene, but R.J. realizes he's alive because of neighbors.
R.J.'s aunt Tia Jackson said her son noticed R.J. was at the bottom of the pool.
“I tripped over my feet and then I fell in the pool,” R.J. said. “I couldn't breathe.”
A nearby neighbor quickly jumped in and pulled R.J. out, Jackson said, but the boy didn't have a pulse for almost a minute until someone else jumped in and performed CPR.
Lifeguards called 911, and paramedics took R.J. to a hospital. He was released later Monday.
