Stories of Other Loss
The Worst Day June 30, 1998 was the worst day of my life. I let a friend and her two and a half year old son stay in my house, for what was supposed to be just one week. They were moving into a new apartment. On the third night they stayed, I awoke at 2:30 AM and didn't know what woke me. I got up to look around the house, and saw through my arcadia door the little boy's toy car in the pool. I was next to the pool, and I don't even remember getting there. He was in the pool, I pulled him out. He wasn't breathing, and there was no pulse. I began CPR immediately. Still no response, I was begging God to help me out here. I finally had to run for the phone and scream for his mother. I called 911, and then continued CPR while they were on the phone with me. My back yard filled with paramedics and police. It seemed like they were working on him for so long. They rushed him to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 3:17AM. It seems as though all that took hours. It was 47 minutes. My whole life changed in 47 minutes. I buried a little boy I hadn't even know that long. His mother stayed in my home for seven months after, because she didn't have anywhere to go. So I worked and took care of my own teens and her. Shock helped me to just function day to day. To just get through the day. I am being sued by the mother now, and I guess that is what finally was too much. I took five months off work, I have been through extensive therapy, and have worked through a lot. The thing that I seem to be missing, is other people who can share similar feelings. If he was my son there are lots of support groups out there. Please if there is anyone out there who can relate to my story, I would appreciate hearing from you. To be the one who pulled that little boy out of the pool and did the CPR, is there anyone out there who can relate to this kind of horror? I have felt alone in that part of my grieving. Thank you for listening. I can be emailed at Fioresbird@aol.com. | 
