PEMBROKE PINES, Fla. – A South Florida family is thankful for the recovery of Cameron Bryant, 3, who nearly drowned over the weekend at a pool in Pembroke Pines.
Cameron spent six minutes under water at the pool of an apartment complex in the 1600 block of South Hiatus Road on Saturday before he was found.
"It was the worst moment of my life because it just took one second," his grandmother, Vivvente Brown, said.
Brown said she was grabbing a towel by her community pool when she heard screaming. Her grandson wasn't breathing, so she tried performing CPR.
Luckily, nursing student Diana Delgado was studying nearby.
"I was nervous, but I was ready," she said.
Delgado said she heard the commotion and jumped into action -- her training put to the test.
"I saw his grandmother attempting to do CPR and in my head I was like, 'It's traumatic for her. I can't let her do that.' So, I took over," Delgado said.
The 3-year-old had no pulse, but Delgado continued CPR until first responders arrived.
"He should have been dead or a vegetable. Brain dead," Brown said.
"You would never think before finishing a nursing program, you would have to put your skills to work," Delgado said.
Doctors who treated Cameron said his family is extremely lucky he survived and it's an important warning for South Florida parents that no amount of floaties, vests or locked perimeters work better than the best way to prevent a child from drowning.
"There is no substitute for direct adult supervision," Dr. Chad Scheller, of Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital, said.
It's a lesson learned for Brown.
"I'm grateful that I'll get that chance again, to go to the pool with him again," she said. "Next time, I'll have somebody else get the towel. I won't do it."
Delgado hopes to save many more lives as a nurse.