Written by: Robin Hattersley

Los Angeles, California – A teenager is being hailed as a hero for saving the life of her 3-year-old family member by performing CPR on the toddler after she fell into a pool.

As the Atkinson family was preparing Thanksgiving dinner, they thought that Maxine was playing inside with the other children. However, she wandered into the backyard and then either jumped or fell into the pool, reports ABC7 Los Angeles.

A few minutes later, the child’s uncle found Maxine floating facedown in the water, reports NBC Los Angeles. The uncle jumped into the pool and pulled the toddler out. Maxine wasn’t breathing, and her body was limp.

Several other adults came out to help, but they didn’t know CPR. That’s when 15-year-old Madison Atkinson came outside and started performing CPR on Maxine, reviving her. The toddler has made a full recovery.

The entire incident was captured on home video.

Madison, a high school sophomore, learned CPR in her sports medicine class and was certified to perform the life-saving procedure.

This is just another example of the value of learning CPR. Other schools and districts across the nation now offer training to students, teachers, and other staff members how to perform various procedures that can save lives, not just on campus but in the community at large. Students, teachers, and administrators, as well as the general public, could find these skills useful because they could encounter someone experiencing a cardiac arrest, choking on food, an allergic reaction, a work accident, a slip-and-fall accident, a near drowning, a car accident, or some other life-threatening issue, such as gun violence.

For example, Brown County Kansas’ Teen Heartsaver Initiative has trained and certified nearly 2,000 high school students, teachers, staff members, and area residents on the American Heart Association’s First Aid, CPR, and AED Heartsaver program.

One student who received the training performed the Heimlich maneuver on a choking child she was babysitting. A bus driver who was waiting in line at McDonald’s revived a person who went into cardiac arrest. Another student who was sitting at a restaurant revived a patron who experienced a heart attack. Brown County’s program has many more success stories… too many to mention.

Learn more about Brown County Kansas’ Teen Heartsaver Initiative.

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