Boy, 6, saves 21-month-old cousins from drowning in backyard pool

— -- A 6-year-old Louisiana boy is being praised for his quick reactions after what could have been a horrific accident on Aug. 20.

Branson Lee of Calhoun saw his 21-month-old twin cousins, Isaac and Kaden Kelley, floating in their pool. Even though he can’t swim, the little boy jumped into the shallow end to pull them out as fast as he could.

The twins’ mom, Jeannie Kelley, said Branson had left a baby gate open while playing hide and seek with her sons that “is always supposed to be shut.”

“He went to the restroom and when he came back he noticed his own little brother was on the first step of the pool,” Kelley, 32, told ABC News. “He saw that and went after him and when he did that he saw my boys in the pool.”

A devastated Kelley explained the family always leaves the doors locked on the ground floor except for one, which is separated by a locked baby gate.

“That is the only way people can come in,” she said. “They’re supposed to lock the baby gate behind them. They left the baby gate unlocked and the babies were able to gain access outside because the baby gate was left unlocked.”

She said once Branson got the twins out he started screaming, which caught the attention of the rest of the family inside the house who didn’t realize the children had gotten into the backyard in the short 3-minute time frame.

“We ran out there and they were laying on the side of the pool and were completely blue and completely lifeless,” Kelley recalled. “My husband immediately fell down to his knees and started doing compressions and CPR. He is a first responder.”

About 30 seconds into the horrific incident, Kelley said Kaden started showing a “slight response,” followed shortly after by Isaac.

Once the ambulance arrived the boys were “full-blown crying,” which the mom said was a good sign. They were medevac’d separately to University Health in Shreveport when Kelley said a surreal experience happened.

“When we got into the helicopter Kaden sat up in my lap and said, ‘Hi Mama. I love you,’” the overwhelmed mom said while fighting back tears. “I was so blown away. Ten minutes ago I thought I lost my baby and now he’s talking to me.”

She said she didn’t know it at the time, but her pastor had started a prayer chain with their fellow parishioners repeating the same prayer she had been praying over her sons the whole time: “Bring them back and make them perfect God.”

Shortly afterward, “They were both playing and talking like nothing ever happened to them,” Kelley said. “The doctors were just astounded. This is just a miracle. I’m so overwhelmed that God was so good to us.”