“There
goes Cruiser again,” thought Cindy Dunlop when she heard
a splash
in the family swimming pool. Cruiser, a springer
spaniel, frequently jumped into the pool
just for fun. Cindy was in the garage around the corner
from the patio.
She was talking on the phone to a friend who had called
to chat.
But
suddenly Cindy sensed that something was wrong. The
splash she had heard was followed by dead silence. Quickly
Cindy said goodbye and hung up the phone. She hurried
around the corner and saw—to her horror—her 17-month-old
daughter, Kyla, floating face down in the 15×30-foot
pool. Cruiser was running back and forth along the edge
of the pool, trying to save the child by grabbing Kyla’s
clothing with his teeth.
Most
mothers would have simply jumped into the pool and pulled
their child to safety. But Cindy Dunlop was not like
most mothers. She was paralyzed from the chest down
as a result of an automobile crash 12 years before.
Because of her disability, Cindy had been forced to
adjust to life in a wheelchair. At 90 pounds, Cindy
swam regularly for physical therapy but needed assistance
getting in and out of the pool.
Now,
on October 7, 1986, Kyla’s life rested in her mother’s
hands. Cindy didn’t have time to phone for help. There
wasn’t anyone nearby, anyway. The Dunlops lived in the
isolated desert town of EI Mirage, California.
Cindy’s husband, Ron, had gone off to work several hours
earlier. The nearest rescue squad
was 25 miles away. And the nearest neighbor was half
a mile down the road.
Knowing
she couldn’t grab Kyla from the edge of the pool, Cindy
had only one choice. She drove her wheelchair straight
into the chilly water. As the chair sank, Cindy began
to swim over to Kyla, who was still floating, face down,
25 feet away. When Cindy reached her daughter, she managed
to flip her over. Then she grabbed her and towed her
to the edge of the pool. Kyla’s eyes were closed and
her lips were blue. She wasn’t breathing.
Frantic
with fear and panic, Cindy tried to lift Kyla up and
out of the water while holding onto the edge of the
pool with one arm. “She was so limp
and heavy, I couldn’t,” she later said.
Cindy
realized she would have to find another way to get Kyla
out. She took a deep breath and let herself sink to
the bottom of the pool. With her arms under Kyla’s body
and her fingertips gripping the edge of the pool, Cindy
used her head to push the child upward. She managed
to lift Kyla out of the water, but couldn’t get her
over the edge onto the concrete. When she tried, the
little girl fell backward into the pool.
Desperately, Cindy kept trying. Finally, by keeping
her head straighter, she was able to roll Kyla up and
out of the water. Then, propping
herself up on her elbows at the edge of the pool, Cindy
reached out and turned Kyla toward her. Her daughter
still wasn’t breathing. With fear gripping her heart,
Cindy pinched the child’s nose shut and began puffing
short breaths into her mouth.
At
first, there was no response. Again and again Cindy
puffed breaths into Kyla’s mouth. Finally, Kyla’s body
lurched,
and she began to cough and spit up water. Then the little
girl started to cry. “It was the greatest thing in the
world to hear that scream,” Cindy said.
Cindy
called 911,
and she and Kyla were rushed to a hospital. Cindy’s
feet, elbows, and hands were badly scraped from crawling
across the concrete. Kyla, however, was fine. Before
long, she was giggling and playing as if nothing had
happened.
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