Toddlers found unconscious in North Miami pool expected to fully recover

Siblings found Tuesday night in pool by relatives, police say

NORTH MIAMI, Fla. – Two toddlers who nearly drowned Tuesday night in a North Miami swimming pool are both expected to make a full recovery, police announced on Wednesday.

"I'm happy because my babies are still alive," the children's grandmother told Local 10 News.

North Miami police said the 1-year-old boy, Messiah, and 2-year-old girl, Safari, who are brother and sister, were pulled by relatives from the pool in the 1100 block of Northeast 129th Street about 7 p.m.

The siblings were unresponsive and weren't breathing.

Police said relatives called 911 and performed CPR on the toddlers until help arrived. The children's father told Local 10 News that he performed CPR on his daughter and the children's uncle performed CPR on his son.

"I seen my girlfriend come in with my daughter in her hands, helpless, so I snatched her from her like 'what's going on,'"  Kevin Desrosiers said. 

The children were underwater for between 2 and 10 minutes. . 

"So I started performing CPR and my cousin was back there  doing my son," Desrosiers  said. 

Screams filled the home as the pair preformed CPR and as paramedics were heading to the home, Desrosiers got a pulse. 

"It was like a sign of relief, you know? I just felt like the Lord gave me the power to do it. I would have waited on the paramedics to come --  I don't think my daughter or my son would be here at this moment," Desrosiers said. 

Miami-Dade Fire Rescue crews regained a pulse on both children at the scene and took them to Jackson Memorial Hospital's Ryder Trauma Center in critical condition.

Police said the children are now stable and expected to fully recover.

Desrosiers said he never formally learned CPR. 

"You learn things throughout life," he said. "I didn't go to school for CPR or nothing like that but I been around people who've done it and it's just experience." 

The incident is being investigated as an accident and foul play is not suspected.

The siblings' grandmother said they are expected to be released from the hospital on Thursday. 


About the Authors:

Amanda Batchelor is the Digital Executive Producer for Local10.com.

In January 2017, Hatzel Vela became the first local television journalist in the country to move to Cuba and cover the island from the inside. During his time living and working in Cuba, he covered some of the most significant stories in a post-Fidel Castro Cuba.