SHIRLEY — After stumbling upon the incident, Acton Fire Chief Robert Hart helped resuscitate a four-year-old boy who was found face down in a swimming pool Monday, according to a news release from the Acton Fire Department.
At about 4:20 p.m. Monday, Hart was driving in Shirley, where he lives, when he saw a group of people gathered on the side of Lawton Road. After pulling over, he learned that a bystander was performing CPR on the boy, who was pulled from the pool “moments earlier,” according to the release.
Hart used an automatic external defibrillator and an oxygen mask he had in his vehicle to assist the bystander performing CPR and administered oxygen to the boy with help from others at the scene, the release states. Shirley police and Shirley and Ayer firefighters arrived a short time later.
The boy was taken to Nashoba Valley Medical Center and later taken by helicopter to a Boston hospital, according to the release.
Shirley Police Chief Samuel Santiago said in an email Tuesday that the department has not yet received an update on the boy’s condition.
According to the release, Hart said that the boy’s mother found him and then carried him to the front of the home to find help, the release states. Santiago said the first person on the scene was a citizen named Kayla Pitard, who was driving on Lawton Road near the vicinity of 35 Lawton road and stopped to assist.
“I’m grateful to live among such caring people as the ones who assisted a child in need today. Each one of those bystanders are true heroes,” Hart said in the news release. “My heart goes out to the boy’s family, and I’m hopeful for the best possible outcome.”
