Off-duty firefighters save 5-year-old boy from drowning at Florida hotel pool

BROWARD COUNTY, Fla. -- A five-year-old boy nearly drowned at a hotel pool in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, but in a stroke of fate, two off-duty firefighters were there and immediately got to work.

"It was the worst day of my life, the worst and the best day of my life because my baby got saved, but the feeling, as a father, as a parent, I'm just thankful," Tyonne Nelson said.

Tyler's father, Tyonne Nelson, said it happened so fast while they were celebrating his birthday over Memorial Day Weekend at the Plunge Beach Resort. Tyonne got out of the pool to order food for Tyler, while Tyler stayed back with his older brother, who is 20, and another adult.

"I should have took with me," Nelson said. "I thought about it, contemplated it, Tyler was talking to Connor's mom, and with Connor, and they were sitting at the edge of the water."

Broward Sheriff's Fire Rescue Firefighter and Paramedic, Broderick Espinoza, was off duty and in the pool with his sister-in-law at the same time.

READ ALSO | Family fights for 2-year-old girl to not be declared brain dead after near-drowning

"We noticed something in the water," Espinoza said. "We didn't know exactly what it was, so she kind of used her foot to bring it afloat, and we noticed it was Tyler. He was unresponsive, wasn't breathing, and didn't have a pulse. So I immediately started CPR on the side of the pool right there."

Those seconds they didn't have to wait for first responders to arrive saved his life.

"I know it was a miracle. I know God was there because he sent some angels there, and it didn't just send one, he sent two," Mom Markita Pittman-Nelson said.

Tyler made it to his kindergarten graduation just a week later, and swim lessons right after that.

"I wish I would have started earlier," Pittman-Nelson said. "Iit just so happened this summer was the summer I wanted to actually go ahead and start it, and then the incident happened."

Monday morning, Tyler reunited with Espinoza and Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Lieutenant Jesus Fuentes. Tyler said he wants to be a firefighter when he grows up.

BSO says drownings are all too common. As we head into summer and children are out of school, spending time at the beach and pool, BSO said to make sure your child knows how to swim, is wearing floaties, and is supervised at all times, and to learn CPR.

The-CNN-Wire & 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.