Brad Hassig is thanking his lucky stars he is still alive today. His ten-year-old twin boys and their friend saved him from nearly drowning in their pool by dragging him out of the water and performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on him, using techniques they had seen in one of their favorite films.
Hassig said on NBC's "TODAY" that he was performing routine breathing exercises in his backyard pool in Alabama when he suddenly blacked out. He added that it seemed normal and then just nothing.
Twin boys and their friend jump into action to save dad's life
His son Christian knew something was wrong immediately. He noticed that his dad was not okay because he was lying on his side, and his face was starting to turn blue. With their neighbor Sam Ebert, Christian's twin, Bridon, jumped into action to save Brad's life.
Bridon said that he and Sam dove into the water, grabbed one arm, and pulled his drowning dad next to the steps. He added that the water made him lighter, and luckily, they are strong swimmers. According to Bridon, his father weighs about 185 pounds.
The twin boys realized their father's phone was locked. They did not have phones of their own, and their mother was not home. Faced with this predicament, Christian sprinted to a neighbor's house to ask for help. But when it became clear to him that they were not home as well, he decided to flag down a car and asked those inside the vehicle to call 911, according to ABC News.
Meanwhile, Sam and Bridon realized that they would need to perform CPR on the unconscious 46-year-old, but neither of them was trained. Bridon had to rely on the CPR steps he learned from a scene in the movie "The Sandlot" to do the procedure.
Luckily, the young child is very familiar with the CPR scene, in which one of the preteen characters in the movie tricks a female lifeguard into kissing him as she gives him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
CPR saves Hassig's life
Bridon's quick thinking worked as his dad started spitting up water as medics arrived. Hassig said he heard "Daddy, Daddy come back." He added that everyone was everywhere, there were first responders on the scene, and it was crazy.
Hassig recalled that he went from just complete peace, saying the Lord's Prayer, and then everything was just white, according to WECT. He said that as he was moving over to his side, he went from peace to being slammed on the pool's deck and then just chaos.
Hassig was taken to the hospital and has since recovered from the near-drowning. Bridon is relieved his father is fine, saying, "I've had some moments with him. Happy, sad and some mad moments. But I'm like I don't want this to be the last moment."
