A 4-year-old girl is on the road to recovery after being discovered unresponsive at the bottom of a Detroit swimming pool — and she has two young sisters and a quick-thinking maintenance worker to thank.
Nine-year-old twins Ava and Addison Apostolopoulos were swimming at their grandmother’s apartment complex on June 27 when they noticed the girl submerged and not moving, according to the Wixom Police Department and 23ABC News.
“Both girls noticed a young child (4 years old), underwater and not moving. Ava jumped into the pool and pulled the girl to the surface,” authorities said in a post shared on Facebook.
“Saw a girl at the bottom of the pool not moving. There was stuff coming out of her nose,” Ava told 23ABC News.
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Addison initially ran to grab goggles to get a clearer view, while Ava swam to retrieve the child and bring her up.
Once the girl was at the surface, maintenance worker Cody Boyette jumped in to help. “The girl was then pulled out of the pool by Cody Boyette and he saw that she was not breathing and had blue lips,” police said. “Cody immediately began rescue breathing on the child and was able to get her breathing again.”
The child was transported to the hospital and is now recovering, 23ABC News reported.
“Without the quick observations and actions of these three individuals it is believed that the child would have perished,” the Wixom Police Department said.
On July 22, Ava, Addison, and Boyette were presented with the Police Department Civilian Citation Award at a City of Wixom Council meeting for their life-saving efforts.
The girls’ father, Jason Apostolopoulos, expressed pride in his daughters’ courage. “We’re just all about helping, we’re aware of our surroundings and taught them the same thing — if you see something, do something,” he told 23ABC News. “The city of Wixom really honored them, and that was wonderful, and they were really proud of that. It’s really been a wonderful thing for them and our family.”
Ava reflected on the moment, saying she felt “proud” to have helped save a life. “I am very happy she’s alive now, and I hope she’s having a good time. And I’m happy,” she said.
Addison added, “I’m happy that we were in the right situation.”
