9-year-old Hero Saves Drowning Brother
An Illinois boy trained in CPR was able to save his 2-year-old brother
Aug. 22, 2010— -- A 9-year-old boy is being credited with saving his 2-year-old brother's life in a swimming pool accident in Joliet, Illinois, thanks to a life-saving CPR class.
Unlikely hero Logan Hearn kept his cool under frightening circumstances when his baby brother Brendan was found by their mother floating face-down in the family's pool on Thursday night.
Logan and Brendan were inside their house on Thursday when their mother stepped outside for a moment. When she returned, Brendan was gone.
"I noticed the door was ajar. I immediately ran outside. I just saw the dogs. I turned around. I went back in the house screaming to Logan, 'Where is your brother?' The first thing I thought after that is, he must be in the pool. I ran back outside, and that's where I found him face down in the pool," mother Tabitha Hearn told ABC News Chicago station WLS-TV.
The toddler had already turned blue in the face when Tabitha Hearn pulled him out of the pool. She then called 911 and, though she is trained in CPR, was too panicked to effectively help her son.
Luckily, Logan had just completed a CPR class and kept his cool.
Logan told his mother that she was performing the essential CPR incorrectly and told her to move out of the way.
"She was kind of getting a little crazy and stuff, at that moment because any parent would, you know. So, I just don't think she had any control over what she was doing at the moment. So, I just kind of went in and moved her," the boy told WLS.
He performed the CPR for two breaths, and stopped when Brendan started coughing up water. Soon his little brother's chest started moving, and he was taking small breaths.
"He did the procedure like it should be done, and it was working," said Tabitha Hearn.
Paramedics arrived shortly and took Brendan to the hospital. The toddler was unconscious at first but perked up when he saw his brother.
"And then when I came in, he just got right up and started talking, demanding our dog, Carly, a bottle and Elmo," Logan said.
The boy remained at the hospital until Friday afternoon, and by Friday night he was back to normal, running around the house and playing with his toys.
The boys' father, Brent Hearn, said he doesn't know if he could react as calmly as his older son in such a situation.
"Due to the fact that I wasn't there at the moment of the accident, it means a lot to me to know that my son has the confidence and training to react in a situation like that," Brent Hearn said. "And I'm very proud of him."
"I mean, I wouldn't say I'm a hero, because any other brother would do that for his brother," Logan Hearn told ABC7 Chicago.
Logan is an advanced swimmer and he hopes to become a marine biologist someday. Since the incident, the family has taken down the pool.