Thanksgiving was put on pause for the Atkinson family when their toddler waddled in the pool and almost drowned. It wasn’t medical professionals who saved the child’s life but a 15-year-old Black teen who put her CPR classes to work.
Let’s hear a round of applause for Madison Atkinson.
She and her mother, Kirsten, gave TODAY the whole rundown of the heroic yet frightening situation. While breakfast was being prepared, they said 3-year-old Maxine snuck out to the backyard and got into the pool. Surveillance camera footage caught the toddler’s quest.
However, it went unnoticed until her uncle found her four minutes later, floating facedown in the water.
Read what happened next from NBC News:
Maxine’s uncle began screaming for help, and that’s when Atkinson said her 15-year-old daughter, Madison, jumped into action and began performing CPR.
“Madison’s just pumping away for a couple of minutes, and finally, Maxine starts to open her eyes and start to breathe,” Atkinson said. “The dispatcher said, ‘Put her on her side.’ And when we did that, Maxine opened her eyes and starts to literally breathe on her own.”
She added: “The entire time Madison’s there just calm, cool, collected, not panicked.”
The junior varsity cheer captain told TODAY she took a sports medicine class that included a CPR lesson.
“I was just trying to remember what I’m supposed to do. I was just like let’s get this baby alive — no one else knew CPR,” Atkinson said.
I too was taught how to perform CPR to both adults and children by practicing on the different (and quite creepy) mannequins while singing along to “Stayin’ Alive” by the Bee Gees. However, she just inspired me to renew my CPR license.
As for lil’ ol’ Maxine, the report says she’s made a full recovery. Leave it to the youngins to save the day.