Police urge parents, caregivers to learn CPR, be vigilant
Morgan Hill – A mother’s quick, instinctive action saved the life of 3-year-old Maya Hernandez after she spotted her at the bottom of a pool.
The family of five was visiting friends and relaxing by the pool in the Morgan Village complex Wednesday, when Maya’s mother, Patricia Campos, 27, left to make a phone call.
The girl’s father, Antonio Palomares, was watching the children and needed to change Maya’s 6-month-old sister’s diaper.
While he was busy, Maya slipped unnoticed into the pool.
“Dad had told her, before he started to change the diaper, to put her floaties on, so she may have thought it was okay to go ahead and get in the water,” said Morgan Hill police officer Greg Dini, who was first on the scene.
Whatever the reason, when Campos returned to the pool area, she saw her daughter lying on the bottom of the pool.
“She shrieked, ‘Maya,’ and dove right in,” Dini said.
Campos pulled her daughter out of the pool and started to administer CPR right away. Maya vomited a few times, and Campos continued to work on her until paramedics arrived to take over. In the ambulance on the way to Saint Louise Regional Hospital, she was breathing and responsive, Dini said.
Campos said she can’t even describe what she felt when she saw her daughter in the pool.
“I was not really thinking at all,” she said Thursday. “It was the scariest thing. I can’t believe I did it. It’s still just like unreal to me.”
Her daughter was discharged Thursday afternoon and is expected to make a complete recovery, Campos said.
“She was crying to go swimming this afternoon, but we’re trying to distract her now,” she said Thursday. “We have a kiddie pool in the backyard, but I don’t think we want her to swim today.”
Maya’s 12-year-old brother, Isaiah, was upset Wednesday, Campos said, but felt better when he could talk to his sister on the phone.
“I think he’s going to be more protective over her, we’re already seeing that today,” Campos said. “He’s a good swimmer, he learned when I worked at the YMCA, so I don’t think this would give him a fear of swimming, but I know he’s gonna be very protective of her.”
There was no question of negligence in the accident, Dini said.
“This is a case where, really, it could happen to anyone,” he said. “It doesn’t take long, you can be distracted for an instant, turn around, and they’re in the pool. It’s hard for one person to watch four kids, especially younger ones. This is every parent’s nightmare.”
