“It was all in the hands of God. These children were dead when they were there when we pulled them out of the water. They were gone,” Vu Nguyen said.
BRIDGE CITY, Texas — A fast-moving group of people at a birthday party Sunday in Bridge City are recounting the moments that saved the lives of two girls who nearly drowned.
According to Captain Elgin Browning of City of Bridge Fire Department.
Mary Stankus, a part-time nurse who was at the party, tells 12News that Lauren Boothman and Jonah Lemoine helped rescue the girls from the water
At that point, Stankus and her brother, Vu Nguyen, sprang into action, performing CPR on both girls and were able to revive both before emergency responders arrived at the home.
Two days after the rescue, Stankus and Nguyen are still in shock.
The duo tells 12News that their courage to keep fighting for the girls came from God.
Nguyen recalls staring at his sister, yelling at her not to throw up, and yelling at the unresponsive girl to wake up.
“And the mother behind me was yelling at her too, but it was all in God’s hands. Those kids were dead when they were there, when we pulled them out of the water. They were gone,” Nguyen said.
They did not give up hope. Although exhausted, frightened and breathless, they turned to God for strength.
“God, please just save them, save them, save them. God, please. That’s all I could think of in my head, just thinking, please,” Stankus said.
Finally, both girls began to show signs of life.
“They just started breathing a little bit, you just saw the color in their lips,” Stankus said.
The humble heroes say there’s only one way to explain this story of survival.
“I mean a miracle of God, it was literally a miracle of God because they didn’t look like that when they came out,” Stankus said.
“Knowing that my sister was behind me working on this little girl. I couldn’t be more proud,” Nguyen said. “It was a moment that we will have forever, and with those girls too, forever they will be in our timeline and a part of our lives.”
Cara Nguyen called 911, and that’s when husband and wife paramedics Robert and Jen Crane arrived on the scene.
“My partner yesterday was my wife and we have a 9-year-old and a 12-year-old. So answering that call was to just make it to the call without worrying about what was going on with ours. I mean, your first thoughts come to your own children.”
When the ambulance rushed to the scene, they realized that they only had enough equipment for one patient.
“On the way to that call, we had a conversation about how we were going to treat two patients at the same time when we only had one cardiac monitor, only one way to defibrillate a patient,” Robert Crane said. “Then when we got an update on their status. It was more of a discussion about giving them the highest level of care.”
The couple didn’t know it at the time, but that’s when they realized Stankus and Nguyen were performing life-saving CPR on the two girls.
When the ambulance arrived, the Cranes got down to business and prepared the girls for helicopter transport.
“Because when you’re crossing with a helicopter, it’s all about timing. We don’t want to wait for them, they don’t want to wait for us. We want to meet there at almost the same time. So the patient gets from one to the next as quickly as possible.” said Robert Crane.
Both girls were taken by ambulance to the Orange County Airport on Texas Highway 87, where they were airlifted to Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston, Browning said.
The condition of both girls at the time of going to the hospital was stable.
A 9-year-old girl is awake and recovering. The 14-year-old girl is still fighting for her life.
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This is a developing story. If and when we receive more confirmed information, we will update the information.
Also on 12NewsNow.com…
https://www.10tv.com/article/news/siblings-save-two-girls-drowning-bridge-city-party/502-2fe5346f-f110-4b5c-a899-20c0ae42820b
