Mother encourages CPR training after near-drowning of 4-year-old son


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LEHI — A drowning at the Cottonwood Heights Recreation Center Sunday hit close to home for a Utah County mother, who is sharing her story so other parents can learn from it.

Four weeks ago, Kristy Stoner took her four kids to a friend’s pool in Provo.

She was sitting poolside, but her attention was on her 9-month-old son.

“I just realized it was quiet, and that’s not normal with four boys,” she said.

Stoner only counted three heads in the water and realized 4-year-old Max was missing.

She found him at the bottom of the pool under 5 feet of water.

“I just remember when I was jumping in the water, the water was totally calm and his body had sunk all the way to the bottom. You could barely see him,” Stoner said. “I remember being really mad at myself (that) I didn’t dive in the water, because I wasn’t getting to him fast enough.”

Stoner pulled him out of the water, and panic set in when she saw he had turned blue.

“I gave him a breath and I pushed on his stomach really quick and I knew I wasn’t doing it right,” she said.

Stoner had CPR training 10 years ago, so the basics started coming back to her.

“I tilted his chin back and plugged his nose, gave him a couple of breaths,” she said. “I went back and forth for about two minutes, and as I was giving him breaths, the color was coming back to his face.”

Max woke up before paramedics arrived and took him to the hospital.

Doctors told his parents he may have been under water for one to two minutes.


I was really beating myself up. It was my fault that it happened in the first place because I wasn't watching him.

–Kristy Stoner, mother


“I was really beating myself up,” Stoner said. “It was my fault that it happened in the first place because I wasn’t watching him.”

On Monday, the family from Eagle Mountain celebrated Max’s 4th birthday at a relative’s home in Lehi. Stoner said she’s grateful her son is alive to celebrate the special day.

She admits it can be challenging to keep a constant eye on her kids, and she said things can happen to even the most attentive parents. And she pointed out that Max is currently in swimming lessons and a good swimmer for his age.

Her heart goes out to the parents of 7-year-old Sacir Mehanovic, who drowned at the Cottonwood Recreation Center.

“I hope the parents of that little boy know that if they were doing their best, that’s all they could do,” she said.

Stoner said everyone can all be more vigilant and make sure they have the proper training.

After the incident with Max, Stoner and her husband got recertified in CPR.

“I didn’t realize how close we were to a fatality,” Stoner said.

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