Mother saves 3-year-old son after finding him at bottom of pool

OTSEGO COUNTY, Mich., (WPBN/WGTU) -- A young child is recovering after being found at the bottom of a swimming pool.

Michigan State Police, the Otsego County Sheriff's Office and Otsego County EMS were called to a residence on Van Tyle Road in Bagley Township around 6 p.m. Wednesday for a possible drowning involving a 3-year-old boy.

According to investigators, the child's mother, a 29-year-old Traverse City resident, brought the boy inside and started tending to another child.

Investigators said the boy took his life jacket off, without his mother knowing, and went back outside.

A short time later, the mother noticed the child was not inside the house, started looking for him and found him at the bottom of the pool, according to MSP.

Records show the mother removed the child from the pool and started CPR but the child was unresponsive at the time.

When the troopers arrived on scene, they relieved the mother from CPR and performed a primary assessment of the child while lying on his back.

First responders said he was unresponsive with weak, agonal breathing.

Troopers believed the child was suffering from pulmonary aspiration caused by vomiting.

First responders were able to clear the boys airways of obstructions, crediting CPR with saving this boy’s life.

"It was a complete team effort, law enforcement was first on scene, we did a good job," said MSP Trooper Jeremiah Roberts. "EMS did a fantastic job, everyone remained composed. When we got him to the hospital, the hospital staff did a great job. It was a team effort but absolutely it felt great. There's no doubt he probably wouldn’t have made it if we hadn’t arrived on scene."

The boy was taken to Munson Otsego Memorial Hospital and later flown to Helen DeVos Children's Hospital in Grand Rapids.

The boy has since been released from the hospital.