Stepmom Says Teen Rescued From Pool Doing Well
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DEERFIELD BEACH (CBSMiami) – Usely Michel, the 13-year-old girl pulled from the bottom of a Deerfield Beach pool over the weekend, is recovering at Broward Health Medical Center and is doing well, according to her stepmother, Mirielle Michel.
Mirielle Michel said Usely is talking and walking and remembers what happened to her.
Mirielle Michel told CBS4 Tuesday that she remembers when 11-year-old Angel Rivera ran to her to tell her Usely was in trouble in the pool.
"I didn't know what to do," Mirielle Michel said. "I was shaking and then the 11 year old just jump and save her life for me."
Angel is being hailed a hero for pulling Usely from the bottom of the eight-foot deep pool.
"I was like God's watching me right now," Angel said Sunday, "looking at me, thanking me. I saved somebody's life."
Rescuers rushed Usely to the hospital.
On Tuesday, the Broward Sheriff's Office released the 911 calls after the near drowning.
MAN: The girl in the pool was drowning.
911 Dispatcher: Her daughter's drowning?
MAN: Yeah. She's drowning but I don't know what happened.
There were reports that Mirielle Michel was on the phone at the time that Usely went in the pool. She adamantly said that's not the case.
"I wasn't talking to nobody," Mirielle Michel said. "I wasn't texting at all."
For now, everyone is focused on Usely's recovery. And Mirielle Michel feels an ocean of gratitude for her daughter's Angel.
"I feel like he's my son because he save a life for me," she said.
Mirielle Michel said she and Usely want to meet Angel and his family and thank them personally for what he did. They know this could have had a much different outcome.