A 3-year-old nearly drowns at the beach Wednesday afternoon before a passer-by spots him and his cousin and successfully performs mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
By JONATHAN ABEL
Published June 15, 2006
HERNANDO BEACH - Three-year-old Hunter Emerick was wading in the water at Rogers Park one minute; the next he was floating face- down. He wasn't breathing.
Cousin Tyler Emerick, 15, thought Hunter was playing around until he went up to him.
"When I came in, I seen him and said, 'I don't think he's playing dead,' " Tyler said. He scooped up the little boy and dragged him to the beach. "His lips were blue. When I picked him up, he had no feeling."
Once he was on the beach, Steven Bourget, 29, of Port Richey, a stranger, started doing mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
"He started coming back to life," Tyler said. "His eyes blinked. He started screaming."
Hunter was born again.
The near drowning happened about 3:15 p.m. on Wednesday at the popular beach by the bridge on Shoal Line Boulevard.
According to the Sheriff's Office, Emerick's parents were distracted when the older kids they were watching strayed into the deep water beyond the swimming line.
"They were calling them back in and took their eyes off the 3-year-old for just a couple of seconds," said sheriff's spokesman Detective Neil Sullivan. "There doesn't seem to be anything that was done improperly by anybody."
Bourget, the hero of the day, soon left the scene.
Everyone involved said the little boy got lucky.
The Hernando Beach Volunteer Fire Department and Hernando County Fire Rescue flew Hunter to St. Joseph's Hospital for precautionary reasons.
Hunter's mother, Regina Emerick, of Spring Hill, came back to the scene after her son had been airlifted. She was still too traumatized to talk to the press.
Her sister Heidi Wilson said that nothing like this had ever happened to their family.
But Tyler Emerick, the one who pulled Hunter from the water, was smiling as he left the beach.
