COCOA BEACH, Fla. — A 9-year-old girl on vacation with her family in Cocoa Beach is being hailed a hero — her instincts helped save a man having a medical problem in a resort hotel pool.
- 9-year-old vacationing with family helps save 87-year-old man
- Angelina, from Chicago, saw the man floating face-first in water
- 87-year-old man is doing fine at a local hospital
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"He was floating on top of the water," said Angelina Marsella.
At Ocean Landings Resort pool on Wednesday, she saw a man floating face-first in the water and told her mom something wasn't right.
The elderly man had some kind of medical episode and wasn't breathing. Angelina’s mother Christine was able to get the man partially out of the pool.
"He was blue, and I checked for a pulse, which he did not have," said Christine Slechter.
In the right place at the right time, another man came to help and began performing CPR.
"He began doing chest compressions as I held his head," Slechter described. "He started spitting up water."
Slechter said a resort employee took over CPR until the man started breathing and EMTs arrived.
"It felt like forever, but it was like 4-6 minutes," she said.
In the past two days, the family has had what seems like forever to reflect on what happened. If not Angelina, an 87-year-old man may not be alive today.
"I hope she gets recognized for what a good kid she is," Slechter said with a smile.
Angelina is a big Spider-Man fan and believes her own 'spider-sense' was tingling during the emergency.
"(Spider-Man) knows when something is wrong, and I kind of feel (that) when something is wrong too," Angelina said.
The family told Spectrum News 13 the man is doing fine at a local hospital.