2-year-old boy saved by mother and sister after falling 10 feet into a septic tank

PIERCE COUNTY, Washington -- A toddler in Washington state was saved by his quick-thinking mom and sister after he fell deep into a septic tank, KIRO-TV reports.

Two-year-old Thorin Hess almost drowned in several feet of raw sewage when his 12-year-old sister saw him fall through a loose lid into his grandparent's septic tank. Thorin was completely submerged in sewage.

In a panic, his mother grabbed this shovel, desperate to reach him.

"I couldn't find him so I just put the shovel back down in the water trying to find him again and the shovel grabbed a hold of his foot and so I pulled him up to the top," Thorin's mother, Marcia Hess, said.

"So I had to grab his foot, but then his shoe slipped off, of course. So he fell back down," his sister, Madi Hess, said.

"I could see him dying and so I just called out to God, just praying. I was like, 'Get me down there. Get me to my son,'" Marcia said.

Marcia started trying to squeeze her body through the narrow hole to find her son.

Marcia, who was bruised cut, bleeding and scraped, found Thorin, who was limp and not breathing -- and she raised him up to his sister.

Doctors were worried Thorin might have infections from breathing and swallowing sewage, but they say he's doing fine.

The family is getting a new lid for the septic access port as a safety precaution.