How to save a life: Lifeguards resuscitated young girl at Cape Splash

Notre Dame Regional High School senior Grant Wilson credits classmate Jayna Timpe for leading him to a nice summer job after his sophomore year.

Timpe served as a lifeguard at Cape Splash after her freshman year and let her friend know how much she enjoyed it.

Wilson, whose mom had been a lifeguard when she was in high school and had encouraged him in that direction, decided to give it a try.

He passed the initial screening test before undergoing the rigorous training and certification and found it an enjoyable way to make some cash.

He returned with his classmate again this summer before they embarked on their final year of high school.

"It's a summer job; most (of) the time, it's pretty easy," Wilson said. "You just kind of hang out at the pool and keep an eye on everybody. You don't think you'll have to do anything like this. I mean, you get a nice tan and chill out."

It's the momentary detour he took between "pretty easy" and "nice tan" that will stamp the summer of 2017 indelibly in his memory.

Timpe is like-minded in her recall of the early afternoon of July 11. "Tuesday" pours off her tongue with the date.

It was the day the two 17-year-olds dragged a lifeless young girl, about age 5, from the water at Cape Splash and performed life-saving CPR.

"I was very proud of them because they couldn't have done anything any better," said Stephanie Buehler, who is in charge of CPR training and lifeguard certification as aquatics supervisor for the Cape Girardeau Parks and Recreation Department. "To have that happen, that's the last thing you want to happen at your facility, but I was very pleased with the outcome and what they did."

The facility, which can resemble a three-ring circus with slides, lazy river and a regular pool among its attractions, has 20 lifeguards on duty at all times, three of which are on break at any time in standby mode, positioned outside the lifeguard shack in the event of an emergency.

Timpe was on break shortly after the park opened that day.

Wilson was stationed in a lifeguard chair on the deep end of the pool when he observed a girl floating face down on her stomach. Alarm bells did not sound at first glance.

"I saw her there, but honestly, a lot of times the kids kind of lay like that, like float on their bellies," Wilson said. "But I always keep an eye on them because you always want to be ready for that type of stuff.

"After a few seconds I realized this wasn't a kid floating. She wasn't, like, responsive at all. You could tell something was going on and I jumped in."

He had blown his whistle to signal a team response, which included Timpe moving to his chair to take watch. Both had assisted swimmers to the side on other occasions, but the gravity of the situation became apparent when he requested Timpe's help. She pulled the girl up and out of the pool.

The other lifeguards went into emergency mode, mobilized to take on designated duties, which included calling first responders and city staff for crowd control.

Timpe checked the unconscious girl's vitals and quickly concluded CPR was needed. She applied chest compressions while Wilson performed rescue breathing.

"I was nervous, but through the city, before you become a lifeguard, they make you do a time of in-services and training so you're prepared for these type situations," Timpe said. "I was scared, but I was well-prepared and confident."

The two applied their training under the calming watch of a nurse who emerged from among the patrons, with the mother and a woman in prayer at their side.

"Honestly, there were no emotions at the time," Wilson said of the rescue. "There wasn't time for that. I had to do what I had to do. I couldn't think about what was actually happening. They prepared me really well for it, because I knew what to do, and I did it. I didn't have to think about anything."

After more than a minute of CPR, the girl began to stir and was conscious when paramedics arrived. Penny Williams, the Recreation Department's division manager, also arrived to the scene after being summoned from a meeting at the Osage Centre.

She went to the hospital and relayed the positive reports on the girl's condition to her staff, along with the thankful words of the mother who credited Timpe and Wilson with saving her daughter's life.

"They all know where they're supposed to report and what they're supposed to do, and it was all executed very well, and it did indeed save that little girl's life that day," Williams said. "So I'm very proud of both of those guys, and the entire staff, because they all play a role as well."

Timpe and Wilson were sent home to their families after the incident.

Wilson already was scheduled to start a 10-day vacation to Massachusetts with his family the next day.

Timpe said she was given as much time off as she needed, which ended up being two weeks.

"I was scared if that happened again, I wouldn't be able to do it because I'd be too freaked out," Timpe said. "But the city helped. They helped counsel me a little bit until I became more confident with it."

While it has been a difficult experience for her, it was also enlightening.

She previously planned to pursue a nursing degree.

"After this, I think I kind of want to stay away from the medical field and go into something else," she said.

Wilson, who will play varsity soccer this fall after running cross country the previous three years, plans to pursue architecture.

One of his soccer teammates is fellow senior JP Schuchardt, also a Cape Splash lifeguard, who performed live-saving CPR on a Notre Dame teammate at a soccer practice last summer.

"I can't say enough about CPR," Wilson said. "More people should be trained. It's not that hard to learn. If I can learn, most people can learn it. Some schools are actually doing that where they are training the kids, they're having like a course. I think it's a great thing."

Timpe said she's looking forward to seeing friends when classes resume Thursday, Aug. 24, after an interesting summer that has driven home a valuable lesson.

"There's a small possibility of things happening like this, but you have to be prepared, because they do happen, and when they do happen, if you're not prepared, things could go way wrong," Timpe said.

They were prepared, and they did their job.

"It's a lot more than just getting a tan," Buehler said. "Somebody's life is in your hands every day, and in their case, it literally was, and because of them, the outcome was good."

jbreer@semissourian.com

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