'My Baby Was Gone And Now She's Back' Mom Thankful To Lifesavers
GREELEY, Colo. (CBS4)- The mother of a little girl, who nearly drowned in Windsor Lake last weekend, is thankful to those who helped save her 4-year-old daughter.
"My baby was gone and now she's back," said Sitlaly's mother Emma Hernandez.
Angelo Mondragon found the little girl, Sitlaly, unconscious in the water about 2:30 p.m. Sunday. He said he felt something brush against his feet and looked back and saw her tiny foot just beneath the surface.
Now Sitlaly is jumping around, playing with her brothers and sisters, just three days after she stopped breathing.
Hernandez said her daughter had gone to Windsor Lake with family when she went underwater.
"I would keep yelling at him, 'What's going on?' Is she breathing?' and he wouldn't answer," said Hernandez.
"I saw just the bottom of her feet and then right then at that moment, that became my child, I reached in and I pulled her out like I would any of my babies," said Mondragon, who is a father of three.
Hernandez rushed to the hospital to be by her side, a moment she said she will never forget.
"I looked at her and she says, 'Mommy' and she hugged me and after that moment I started losing it," said Hernandez.
Sitlaly had hypothermia, her lungs were filled with fluid and doctors were worried about how long her brain had been without oxygen. From the Medical Center of the Rockies she was flown to Children's Hospital.
"She's really strong, she's really strong," said Hernandez.
It took just three days and a visit from Mondragon before she would return home, healthy and happy.
"Her lungs are good, her heartbeat is good. Everything is good," said Hernandez.
Mondragon has set up a fund to help provide life vets for children who don't have access to them. Mondragon said he plans to provide the vests to Windsor Lake to rent out or hand out for free.
Children's life vest donations can be dropped off at Dellenbach located at 3111 S. College Avenue in Fort Collins. Monetary donations can be made at http://www.gofundme.com/2a9sgg7p8.
