Georgia firefighter rescues 2-year-old son from drowning, family now waits for his recovery

Georgia firefighter rescues 2-year-old son from drowning, family now waits for his recovery
A Georgia family is holding onto hope their young son will survive after nearly drowning.

They're sharing their story to urge other parents to make sure they know how to do CPR. The family told 11Alive's Kaitlyn Ross that’s the only reason their two-year-old son Briggs has a fighting chance.

Briggs' father Josh is a firefighter in Bremen, Georgia. He was the one who pulled the boy from the water and immediately started doing CPR.

They don’t know how long Briggs was in the water – but they’re praying he pulls through.

"You can hear his laugh in a crowd of a thousand people," family friend and fellow Bremen firefighter Daniel Norton said. "He's got little blonde hair, he's a little fella."

Briggs may be small, but he has a huge group of people pulling for him after he nearly drowned at his family's lake home Sunday.

"Things looked pretty grim in the beginning, and then he got stable, his breathing got stable, his brain activity got better, they had him on some sedatives to keep him calm and let his little body heal," Norton said.

It was Josh who found his son after the boy wandered off while they were packing up to go home.

"He saw his shirt in the water, so Josh dove in and snatched him out and got him on the dock and started doing CPR on him," Norton said.

Josh continued to do CPR on Briggs for 30 minutes while waiting for a medical helicopter to arrive, Norton said.

"Josh was able to get a heartbeat back on Briggs, but he wasn't breathing very good," he said.

Norton said the only reason Briggs' has a chance now is because of his dad’s quick action.

He thinks it's vital for parents to know water safety and CPR for their own kids.

"A lot of the success stories come from immediate CPR and immediate defibrillation and that's what Josh did. It's so important to know what to do." Norton said.

Norton said that only time can tell what will happen next.

"As time progresses, a trauma like that can have crazy effects, and it's typical for their brain to swell, it's just how much it swells and when it stops," he said.

The family has a consultation with a doctor who specializes in drowning victims Wednesday – they're hoping that doctor might have some hope for how to save their son.