My two-year-old stopped breathing for 20 minutes & nearly drowned after falling in a pool – now I’m warning parents
A TRAUMATIZED mum has gone viral after sharing videos of her daughter’s miraculous recovery from a near-fatal drowning incident.
Alia Preston, 37, has been sharing the recovery journey of her two-year-old daughter, Mia, after her heart stopped beating for over 20 minutes when she was found unresponsive in the family swimming pool.
Miraculously Mia has made a full recovery after the incident on March 18th and has even started swimming lessons to build the family’s confidence around water again.
Doctors praised her father’s swift response in performing CPR.
Now, Alia is urging parents to get CPR trained and to invest in swimming education and pool safety.
Alia Preston and her family were on holiday, visiting family in Poway, San Diego, California when Mia managed to open patio doors near the pool without the alarm sounding.
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Her mum Alia was on a quick shopping trip with her mother-in-law, leaving her husband Nick, 41, in a playroom, watching their four kids and their cousin.
Alia said: “All the kids were together and Nick was holding Wells, our seven-month-old son, when he went to answer the front door to his sister. When he came back, he noticed Mia wasn’t in the playroom.
“So he started searching the house for her.
“He looked through the patio door and spotted her, face down and not moving in the swimming pool.
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“He placed the baby on the ground in the house and jumped in to get her out and started performing CPR, and called 911.
“He said she was ice cold and not breathing. She was limp with no pulse but he managed to get lots of water up.”
Paramedics arrived within seven minutes and got her to the hospital. After 20 minutes of CPR Mia was still not breathing, and had no heartbeat of her own.
Alia said: “At the hospital, they brought me into the triage room. I knew they didn’t think she was going to make it.
“There are no words to describe what I was thinking as a mom. It was beyond words. It was agonizing.
“Nick was pale and absolutely distraught. I thought he was going to pass out. He kept saying ‘I’m sorry, I’m sorry,’ over and over.
“Watching them working on her I felt like it wasn’t real, like it was Grey’s Anatomy or something.”
A few minutes later, doctors regained a heartbeat.
Then Mia began breathing on her own.
Alia said: “A nurse came to me and took me to her side. ‘Mommy’s here Mia,’ I said.
“I sang her favorite song: Rain rain go away. And kissed her.”
After she started to breathe on her own Mia was still sedated and remained in a critical condition, with suspected brain damage.
But after six days in a coma, Mia opened her eyes and eventually started talking.
Alia said: “She woke up and saw me and started to cry. To our absolute amazement, she then answered our questions. She recognized her favorite Masha Bear doll. It was a miracle.”
An MRI revealed no brain damage. No stroke or signs of a lack of oxygen at all.
Alia said: “The brain surgeon who told us almost gasped at the results. This little girl is 100 percent a miracle.”
Doctors credit Nick for performing timely CPR and getting Mia’s blood flowing.
Alia said: “What’s so amazing is Nick remembered everything from being CPR certified at 15 years old because he happened to go with his mum on her course.
Alia is now sharing Mia’s story to help other families. The home they were staying at had an alarm at a door that opens to the pool, but the battery had died.
Alia said: “This happens in the blink of an eye. Constantly just be vigilant, always, and please get CPR certified. That saved Mia’s life.”
Videos documenting Mia’s recovery from the traumatizing event have gone viral on Alia’s Instagram @fiercelyalia where she has 47,000 followers.
One reel, where Alia shares her fears about how Mia may be traumatized, has been viewed over 9M times.
Alia said: “I’m striving to help use my platform to inspire parents to invest in swimming education pool safety and prevention of drownings.
“Drowning is the number one cause of death in children aged one to four in the United States. We don’t have enough education until it happens.”
Alia added: “Mia is Currently in play therapy to help with any trauma. But she’s been responding great. She shows very little to no trauma currently.
“I am in therapy and doing EMDR to help with the trauma from her accident. My husband is so resilient.
“He has handled this with faith and positivity. We are so grateful for the miracle that blessed our family.
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“The accident has made me embrace little moments with all my kids more than ever.”
A GoFundMe campaign has been set up to help the family with medical expenses. You can donate here: https://gofund.me/765606f8
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