Perhaps every parent’s worst nightmare is finding their child unconscious and not breathing. Unfortunately, Marco Ortiz had to experience that.
He and his family were getting ready for their weekly Sunday dinner. After taking a quick shower, he went into the living room, only to find his 2-year old daughter, Jacqueline, missing. His frantic search found her lifeless body in the pool in their backyard. He immediately jumped into the pool, pulled little Jacqueline out, and started CPR. After a few minutes, Jacqueline started breathing faintly on her own and started to throw up pool water. Medical personnel and first responders arrived after 10 minutes and praised Ortiz for his quick action. Young Jacqueline made a full recovery after a stay at the local hospital.
Ortiz and his wife also thanked Ortiz’s CPR instructor, Karen Rose, for giving him the training he needed to save his daughter. Rose teaches CPR classes to staff at Ortiz’s workplace (a hotel) in her free time. Both Ortiz and Linda Anderson, director of HR at the hotel, strongly urge people to learn CPR.