Milton Mom Shares Near-Drowning Story, Cautions Parents In Summer

MILTON, Ga. — Last August, Melissa and Tony Gibson were faced with every parent's worst nightmare: their 2-year-old daughter Josie was found unconscious in the pool.

Josie and her sisters were inside the house watching a movie and laying on the living room floor in their swimsuits that day. Melissa remembers checking on them every few minutes while keeping an eye on the back door just to be careful.

The family was at Tony's father's house to celebrate his 75th birthday.

"There were many people around, and we were all constantly aware and watching Josie," Melissa said. "None of us have a habit of being on our phones when we are with family and that wasn't an issue on that day either. We had been swimming all day, Josie in her puddle jumper, and had come inside to eat where I'd taken her floaty off, so she could sit at the table comfortably."

However, the relaxing afternoon quickly turned terrifying when Melissa looked over to the living room and saw an empty floor. She asked her husband where Josie was, and within seconds they ran outside and saw Josie floating, face down in the pool.

"It was a normal day other than, and this may sound weird, me feeling uncharacteristically nauseated all morning and afternoon up until the accident," Melissa said. "I didn't think anything of it until our family therapist later said that it was probably mother's intuition that something was going to happen. I had a sinking feeling seconds before I called out for her."

"My initial thought when I saw her was 'how in the world did this happen?'" Melissa said. "I yelled to my husband 'she's in the water!' and he immediately ran and jumped in."

Tony jumped in the water to get Josie out while someone called 911. Melissa remembers Josie's skin being gray, including her hands, and her eyes were rolled back.

"She was unconscious and lifeless," Melissa said. "I kept saying to her 'don't leave, Josie. Don't leave us. Come back to us. It's mommy and daddy. Come back.' Then my thought shifted to realizing that we had no idea how to save her as none of us knew CPR."

They headed to the closest ER where doctors performed a breathing treatment and an X-ray which showed fluid in Josie’s lungs. They were then transported to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, where luckily, the X-ray showed clear lungs, and they were discharged.

There were two important things Melissa said she learned during this event: it can happen in 30 seconds. That's the amount of time it takes for you to ride an escalator from one floor of the mall to the next; and that CPR is as vital as swimming lessons. So a few months after the accident, they enrolled Josie in swim lessons.

"I was, as I know many parents are, of the mindset that a floaty is sufficient for a toddler," Melissa said. "When in fact, swimming lessons reduces the percentage of drowning in kids 1-4 by 88 percent. If it can happen to us, it can happen to anyone. We were (and always are) absolutely cautious that day. We weren't on our phones. We weren't distracted. We all were watching out for her, and checking on her, every few minutes. My in-laws even have an alarm on the door leading to the pool. It still happened to us. "

Now, Melissa wants to share their family's experience to hopefully save other children.

"Accidents happen and unfortunately a big one happened to us; however traumatic it was for all of us, our child survived," Melissa said. "That can't be said for many, many people. We are fortunate to have had the outcome we did and are now able to share this testimony with other families."

Additionally, Melissa said many people think of drowning accidents happening at birthday parties. like their family, or at community pools.

"However, water related accidents can happen in bathtubs, lakes and backyard ponds," she said. "And although swimming lessons reduce the risk of drowning by almost 90 percent, they don't prevent drowning. Accidents still happen, which is why CPR is just as vital. I'd like to remind parents not to just think of water related accidents as something that happens at BBQs and play dates. If your child goes on a play date, remember to ask about backyard pools, but also ponds and lakes."

Although it was a scary time for the family, Melissa said she would not change anything about what happened.

"It's because of that day we are able to live in the moment now, not taking anything for granted," she said. "It's because of this accident that she is now such a great swimmer for only being 3-years-old. I don't like that it happened, but it's because of what happened that we are big advocates of water safety and CPR. Furthermore, we believe this was God's plan all along, to use Josie in such a powerful and miraculous way. There's no other way to describe what happened that day other than 'miraculous.' We were extremely close to losing our girl that day, but we were given a second chance with her. It's because of that we will not keep quiet about water safety and CPR."