Boy, 5, revives after being found on pool bottom

UPDATE– A woman who identified herself as Sandy Bernier contacted the newspaper and made the following statement:

“The facts of child in my pool-- This account of facts is not true, I am the homeowner, I along with four other adults and two other children were all outside my home poolside, and some in pool.

“Child was not found at bottom of pool, he went under and one of the adults, the aunt who was in pool, went underwater to pull him back up.

“He lost his step from shallow side to deep side incline. No one was in my home. We were all there poolside.”

INITIAL REPORT-- A 5-year-old boy was airlifted around 2 p.m. today after being found at the bottom of a pool on Nathan Bedford Forest Lane near Shiloh Golf Course.

Emergency medical transportation near the scene.

Hardin County Fire Chief Melvin Martin said the child’s mother had put a flotation device on him while he was in the pool, but removed it while she took him inside the home to go to the bathroom. The mother went into the kitchen and shortly thereafter could not locate him, and went outside and found him underwater in the deep end of the in-ground pool.

Other family members were at the residence and the boy was pulled out of the pool and given CPR. When emergency personnel arrived the child was awake and breathing, Martin said.

The chief said the child was airlifted because water in the lungs can lead to a risk of fatal "secondary drowning" for up to 10 hours.