A 23-year-old woman in Denver has saved three children from drowning in frozen pond after seeing them from her apartment in Arapahoe County.
Dusti Talavera, was looking out from her window when she noticed a group of kids playing on a frozen pond. The pond's icy surface cracked and the kids were soon in the freezing water fighting to survive. Dusti rushed to rescue them and she found herself in the middle of the pond trying to pull them out.
Straight after watching the incident, Dusti threw her shoes and swam towards the children in the 15-foot-deep pond.
She first successfully pulled out a 4-year-old girl and an 11-year-old boy before diving to rescue a 6-year-old girl.
Dusti said:
"Nobody was really outside, I just knew it was me that had to do it."
A 16-year-old relative of the youngest girl was thankfully around and also rushed to the children's rescue. It has been reported that he had to throw a rope to pull them out while Dusti was staying underwater for over two minutes.
Dusti said:
"I'm thankful for that young man who threw the rope. I would have been in there longer, she would have been in there longer. I don't know what would have happened."
After being pulled out of the water, the girl had no pulse and wasn't breathing. When Deputy David Rodriguez arrived at the scene, he removed the girl's coat and performed CPR until she regained her breathing.
He said:
"We reverted back to what we were trained to do. We're all fathers and we all have young kids. It's hard to see a 6-year-old girl whose face is blue with her eyes open and not responding, not breathing."
Soon after, the girl was taken to the hospital where her condition was 'stable' but then had to be admitted to the intensive care unit at the Denver Health Medical Center. The sheriff's office reported that the girl's condition is 'serious' but she is expected to survive.
Luckily, the other two kids were well enough to be sent home.
Cory Sudden of the South Metro Fire Rescue, said during a conference:
"I have four boys. What she did was amazing. We were back at the fire station talking about how brave she was … and, gosh, I hope if this happened to one of [my boys], that somebody like her was close by."
Dusti reported to the police that she "wasn't concerned for her safety because they were babies and they needed help."
Deputy Blaine Moulton said:
"The fact that we had her witness these kids fall in there and her quick reaction … in putting her life at risk for the kids to make sure that they could make it another day is amazing."
[Based on reporting by: Positive Outlooks]
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