NY Responders on Vacation Save Toddler
By Nancy Niles
Source The News-Journal, Daytona Beach, Fla.
July 04 -- A Daytona Beach toddler was rescued by a pair of sharp-eyed first-responders from New York when, authorities said, they spotted a 3-year-old girl in the deep end of a hotel pool.
Firefighter Jessica Campeta and state trooper Mathew Colwell, both from Hudson, spotted Zhamiyah Gibson underwater minutes after 5 p.m. Tuesday at the LaQuinta Inn on West International Speedway Boulevard.
The pair pulled the girl out of the water and were rendering first aid when medical units arrived a few minutes later.
"The Daytona Beach Police Department is grateful to these two individuals whose actions helped save this toddler's life," said agency spokeswoman Lyda Longa.
According to the report, the girl's mother, Kereathia Gibson, said her sister had just taken the little girl to the restroom. When they returned, Gibson began packing up the family's belongings in preparation for a football game they'd planned to attend.
The girl's mother said she did not know how or why the toddler ended up in the water because she "is scared of the water," noting that Zhamiyah had been in the pool earlier, but only the shallow end and with the aid of a pool float.
Campeta and Colwell told police that the girl regained consciousness and began breathing on her own before she was transported to Halifax Health Medical Center, "where she is expected to make a full recovery," the report stated.
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