FARMINGDALE, Maine — A 2-year-old boy who was found unresponsive in his family’s swimming pool Thursday is breathing on his own in a Portland hospital, police said.
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Sgt. Frank Hatch of the Kennebec County Sheriff’s Office said Friday that Cody Campbell is making significant improvements.
“I spoke with his dad [Friday] morning,” said Hatch. “I think that the medical staff between the paramedics there on scene and the hospital staff both at MaineGeneral and Maine Medical Center did some incredible work. He’s a pretty resilient kid.”
Rescue personnel had responded to the boy’s Farmingdale home on Thursday after he was found face-down and unresponsive in an above-ground swimming pool, Hatch said. The boy’s mother dove in after finding her son in the pool.
Campbell had no heartbeat and was not breathing when paramedics arrived, but they kept working on him and transported him to MaineGeneral Hospital in Augusta, the sergeant said. Initial reports stated the boy had drowned.
Campbell was eventually flown by LifeFlight to Maine Medical Center, where staff put him on a ventilator, the sergeant said.
Hatch said the boy’s condition had improved to the point Friday where he was breathing on his own.
The sergeant added that as summer gets into full swing, proper swimming pool safety should be exhibited. According to the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, pool deaths are the second-leading cause of death for children between the ages of 1 and 14.
“If you have any kind of pool it’s important that safety measures are around the pool,” said Hatch.
The incident remains under investigation.
