Lifeguard encourages people to get CPR certified
We've heard about a few near drownings in our area this summer. A 19-year-old, who says she helped save a little boy, is hoping to spread awareness on the importance of knowing CPR and water safety.
Heather Norman is a lifeguard. She says last Sunday was the first time she had to use her experience to help someone.
"We took two rounds of the 30:2 compressions to breaths and he started breathing," says Heather Norman, lifeguard.
Norman was off-duty June 2nd and decided to go to Blue Hole in Georgetown for the first time. But, when she got there she saw a crowd of people surrounding a little boy. Heather says her instincts kicked in and she quickly began performing CPR.
"There were key elements to every single part that happened. It was just play, after play, after play and you can't have the end result, if there was never one, two or three. If the head wasn't tilted back, the amount of water that was coming out after I got there, would not have come out," says Norman.
Just a few weeks ago there was a near drowning at Blue Hole as well. In that case, city officials say 9-year-old Benny got pinned under water after someone removed one of the grates from the dam. FOX 7 was there there when he reunited with the two women who saved his life.
"In a society where people video tape instead of jump in and help, these two women got in and helped me. If it wasn't for them, I wouldn't have been able to get him out of that hole by myself," says Liz Crowe, Benny's mother.
Heather is also trying to share her story, in hopes it will encourage more more people to get certified. She's currently a student at Schreiner University and is working to get a program there. Her goal is to prepare people for the unexpected.
"You never know what's going to happen, especially at my university being kind of in the Hill Country and by all these rivers. You know after summer, spring break, we have all these events - kids go to the river, kids go to the pool. So, if we have all of our Schreiner athletes at least, or at least most of our students, certified or willing to be certified... who knows how many lives we can save," says Norman.
Heather has also been in contact with her church, hoping to spread awarness among youth groups. She's not stopping there; bigger plans are in the works.
"I want to reach everybody. Everybody in the United States, everybody even not in the United States. You want to go on vacation and you want to go to some swimming hole in some other country? You can save lives there. This is not something that has any borders. This is something you can take wherever you go, whenever you go," says Norman.