Teen lifeguard put to the test at Delaware pool [audio]

A 16-year-old lifeguard in Delaware put his training to the test, just two months after getting certified.

Ridge Logan started working at Green Acres Pool in North Wilmington on Memorial Day weekend. It was the high schooler’s first job as a lifeguard. 

This past Sunday, a 6-year-old little boy was spotted floating face down in the pool and Logan and the two other teenaged lifeguards on duty swiftly kicked into action. 

“All of a sudden we hear these three loud whistle blows. And we’re like, ‘Oh my goodness,’ because that means that something’s not good,” recalled Logan, who said the lifeguard on the stand then jumped into the water. But before she could get to him, Logan said an adult who knew the little boy jumped in too and scooped the little boy up.

The 6-year-old was not a regular member of the pool. He was attending a birthday party there.

“She was running towards me and I grabbed him from her and he was not breathing,” said Logan, who then cleared a table for the boy. “I laid him on his back and I performed CPR on him. I rolled him over to his side and I reached my finger in his mouth and I pulled out some food, like it looked like some chewed up food, and he threw up. I started patting him on his back real hard, and he threw up on his side and I rolled him quickly back over on his back and started performing CPR again and he slowly woke up.”

Logan’s mom, Caroline Grimm, just happened to be dropping off lunch for her son at the time of the whistle blows. She ran to help any way she could.

“It was really scary at this point. At one point [the little boy’s] eyes rolled back and then there was nothing. I actually had my hand on his wrist, I couldn’t even feel a pulse,” Grimm said. “And [Logan] rolled him on his side, cleared him out some more and thank God, he just started to cry, which we were just so elated to hear.”

Grimm described herself as a proud parent, after having witnessed Logan perform CPR.

“He was like, ‘Mom, I was so scared,’ and I said, ‘Looking at you, you just looked like you were calm and your training was in place, which was so great because I think it really helped calm everyone around him,” said Grimm, who was also proud of the teamwork and composure exhibited by the other lifeguards at the time. 

Paramedics took the little boy to A.I. duPont Hospital for Children. Grimm and Logan said a family member told them Sunday night that the boy was doing well.