UPDATE: Lifeguards Rescue Boy from Civic Center Pool

The mother of a 5-year-old Oswego boy rescued from the pool on Monday said the experience was terrifying, and it all happened very fast.

The mother, who asked not to be identified, said she was at the Civic Center on Ashlawn Avenue in Montgomery with her three children around 4 p.m. The adult swim period had just ended, and as the open swim period began, dozens of kids rushed the pool.

In the confusion, she said, she lost sight of her son. He had climbed into the four-foot area of the pool and was hanging out over the dividers, thinking they were floats, she said. And then he lost his balance.

The mother heard a lifeguard blow a whistle, and saw a boy floating in the pool. It took a moment for it to register with her that the lifeguards were jumping in to rescue her son.

"I cannot stress enough how fast it happened, and how terrifying the whole thing was," she said.

When he was pulled from the water, the boy's lips were blue and his skin was pale, she said. She was by his side as the lifeguards revived him, giving him mouth to mouth and bringing him oxygen.

He was taken to Rush-Copley Medical Center in Aurora, and then to Loyola University Hospital in Chicago, where he stayed overnight for observation. He was released on Tuesday, and is doing well, his mother said.

"It happened right in front of us. We were right there," she said. "It could happen to anyone. Thank God for the lifeguards. They saw him. They did what they are trained to do."

Oswegoland Park District Executive Director Rich Zielke said the Park District’s lifeguards are trained well, and followed that training perfectly on Monday. There were about 10 people involved in the rescue, from the lifeguards who jumped in to the ones who secured the scene.

“It’s a collaborative effort of all the guards on duty,” he said. “When that whistle is blown, they all have a role.”

The boy's mother said she has been talking about the incident in the hopes of spreading an important message: respect lifeguards, because they could save your life, or the life of someone you love.