3-year-old boy reunites with 1st responders who saved him from drowning

First responders in Santa Clara County, on Monday, got a chance to meet the family of a 3-year-old they helped save from drowning. And the family got a chance to express their gratitude.

BBQ tragedy 

The incident happened July 5th. Anthony Pettinari, who was actually a month shy of his third birthday at the time, was with his family at a friend's barbecue near Gilroy.

Anthony, somehow slipped away when their backs were turned. His family believes he saw the covered, above-ground pool and thought it was a trampoline. Friend Eddie Garza was the one to find him.

"I started to say there's no way he can be in there and by the time I say ‘can,’ Eddie ripped the cover off the pool and I saw Anthony on the bottom and jumped in and grabbed him," says Anthony's father, Tim Pettinari.

Anthony wasn't breathing. His father quickly began CPR, which he remembered from the military.

"All I could think was please God let this work. Please let it work. Please let it work," says Pettinari.

First responders arrive 

Within moments, first responders were on scene. Santa Clara County Sheriff's Deputies ran in with a defibrillator. Firefighters and paramedics brought equipment to help him breathe and quickly loaded Anthony into the ambulance. They say everyone worked together seamlessly.

"From family pulling him out of the pool, starting CPR, the dispatchers giving instructions, having fire on scene quickly, deputies were there even before us, started doing CPR and care. That's really what made the difference was early CPR," says Captain Curtis Shaw with the Santa Clara County Fire Department.

"There's a lot of times where things don't go right. And I'm happy to say this is a time where everything went right. And Anthony's here with us to be a testament to that," says Deputy Ignacio Gamboa with the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office.

Meeting his heroes

Anthony is back to being his healthy, happy, silly self. And while he appears to have no memory of what happened, there were other lasting impacts from that day.

"We got rid of the pool the same night," says Joy Garza, who had been one of the hosts that day.

The Pettinari's want others to learn from their experience: never assume a closed pool isn't dangerous.

They also want first responders to know just how grateful they are.

"I know that first responders don't always get a chance to see the good come out of something. And I wanted to make sure they could this time," says Pettinari. He adds, "It's nothing short of a miracle."

First responders say this should be a reminder about the importance of CPR and pool safety.