Siblings rescued 6-year-old from ocean
Published: August 24, 2007
Courtney Fucaloro, 11, and her brother, Stephen Fucaloro, 13, were swimming in about 31/2 feet of water near the rocks at the far left end of Wingaersheek Beach last week when they spotted something in the water.
Stephen asked his sister, “What’s that, Courtney?”
The 11-year-old responded, “Oh, my God, it’s a body.”
It was at this point that the Byfield sister and brother, who had gone to the Gloucester beach with their mother, swam out 20 feet and discovered 6-year-old Tanaya Jackson of Boston floating face down in the water.
“She was starting to drift out to sea, so we had to rush out and get her,” Stephen said.
Tanaya was pulled from the water and taken by ambulance to O’Maley Middle School, where a medical helicopter landed to fly her to Boston Medical Center. A spokesman for Boston Medical Center said the girl has since been discharged.
In an e-mail, Mark Cole, manager of public properties for Gloucester, confirmed that the children pulled the little girl from the water, not the girl’s stepfather as officials reported earlier.
Courtney was the first to reach the little girl, who she said was foaming at the mouth. She gathered her into her arms and began making her way to shore. Stephen was not far behind. The brother and sister brought the girl in about halfway, and a woman helped them get the little girl the rest of the way to the beach.
Tanaya’s parents were not around, Stephen said.
“I don’t know what I would have done as a child their age, but they did the right thing,” said Donna Fucaloro, mother of Courtney and Stephen. Once the young heroes got Tanaya to shore, a young man began taking her pulse, Stephen said.
Stephen overheard the young man saying, “Mom, give her CPR.”
A woman started administering cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and lifeguards Eric Doe, Chris Trahon and Liz Marquis arrived immediately. An off-duty police officer, Patrolman Michael Williams Jr., also helped revive the unconscious girl.
When she heard the commotion, Donna Fucaloro and her other daughter, Ashley, were fetching a camera from a blanket to photograph the kids in the water. Immediately Donna began running to the water to look for her children.
“Someone said a little girl was hurt and needed help, and I was running as fast as I could to see if it was my daughter,” she said.
A crowd had formed around Tanaya, as lifeguards raced to the chaotic scene. And once Fucaloro found her two children, they were in tears.
“They’ve never seen anything like this,” she said. “And for them to go into the water and get her was very brave.”
At the time, though, they were more concerned with getting help to Tanaya. Stephen said people were crowding around the unconscious girl and unwittingly interfering with attempts to revive her, so he and Courtney started moving them away.
“We were screaming at people, ‘Go back!’” Stephen said.
Tanaya was conscious and breathing when she was taken to the hospital, Stephen said, although she was dizzy and could not remember how she wound up floating in the water.
Stephen and Courtney said their father has worked as an EMT and has talked to them about how to react to an emergency.
“He said whenever you can, help someone who needs help,” Stephen said. “And get the attention of an adult if you don’t know what to do.”
Donna Fucaloro said she was proud of her children.
“They’re young, but they were able to assess the situation when every second counted,” she said.
The trip to Wingaersheek last week was the family’s first trip to the beach in two years.
Wingaersheek is the family’s favorite beach, in part because it’s safe, she said. Not that Fucaloro had taken any chances — she gave all her children swimming lessons years ago when they were growing up in Salem.
The family moved to Byfield about 10 years ago.
Stephen and Courtney are taking it easy after last week’s heroics but seemed to be dealing well with the traumatic experience. They haven’t been back to the beach, but the backyard swimming pool is not a source of anxiety.
“It’s just a pool,” Courtney said.
If you enjoyed this good news Subscribe to Good News Blog
Share this
To share this simply copy and paste one of the below URL's: