North Bellmore Boy's Dive Saves Life

When 11-year-old David Collins saw the cousin of a classmate at the bottom of a North Bellmore pool on June 29, he dove to the rescue.

Collins, of North Bellmore, was at a combined graduation party for Dinkelmeyer Elementary School and Mepham High School when he saw a boy laying at the bottom of a 10-feet-deep pool. Collins' friends assumed the boy was playing, but he thought otherwise.

"I saw kid at the bottom of the pool, and I saw he wasn't moving, so I dove to the bottom to see what was wrong," Collins said.

"The next thing I knew, David came up to the surface holding a boy that was completely lifeless," David's mother, Susan, said. "By the time David came to the surface, his friend alerted the homeowner."

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As emergency responders were called, an adult pulled the boy out of the pool and started performing CPR. 

"Finally, they turned him on his side and he threw up," Susan said. "The ambulances came and they took him to the hospital."

The boy stayed overnight for observation and he was released from Nassau University Medical Center the next day. Susan was extremely proud of her son's quick decision, saying that time "is of the essence" in a situation like this.

"He's comfortable in the pool and he knows how to swim," she said. "Could I ever imaging him doing this? No, but it's unbelievable. I am so proud of him and thankful that he was able to take care of this."

"I feel good about it," David, who will attend Grand Avenue Middle School in the fall, said. "It was obviously scary in the beginning, but he's fine now and I'm happy I helped."

This story was originally published on July 9 at 11:15 a.m. and was last updated at 11:51 a.m.