The 15-month-old girl who almost drowned Thursday was to be released from the hospital Friday.
She has a quick-thinking neighbor to thank.
The incident began Thursday morning when Urania Wynperle, a neighbor in the Northwood community of Wesley Chapel in Pasco County, heard screaming coming from the edge of a pond just behind her house.
Toddler Kayla Chanea had somehow walked past a sliding glass door at her home, and into the pond. Urania Wynperle called 911 as her brother-in-law, Mike Wynperle, ran to help.
Mike Wynperle said the baby's parents were panicked.
"They didn't (look) like they knew what to do so I just ran over there and started jumping in there and giving her CPR," he said.
He said he had to call on CPR training he learned 15 years ago as a bread truck delivery person.
The 911 dispatcher, Tony Luzader, gave instructions to Urania Wynperle over the phone. She relayed those instructions to Mike Wynperle at the side of the pond with the child, who continued to give CPR until paramedics arrived.
"She had a lot of water in her and it was coming out the nose and everything and her lips were blue. She was motionless," Mike Wynperle said.
He said she had regained consciousness by that time and was airlifted to St. Joseph's Hospital in Tampa.
A Pasco sheriff's spokesperson said the toddler was scheduled to be released Friday.
The dispatcher on the other end of the line with Urania Wynperle said such situations often turn out tragically.
"Fortunately, this one went very good and I'm glad that I had a hand in saving someone's life," Luzader said.
Mike Wynperle feels the same.
"It was something else, something to experience that actually, I mean, makes you take a new look on life," he said.
Pasco deputies say the incident appears to be an accident.
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