The Brief
- A 3-year-old boy nearly drowned at a barbecue this summer near Gilroy.
- The boy thought the above-ground swimming pool was a trampoline. The family was quick to react, as well as first responders.
- The family and the boy were reunited with first responders and were able to express gratitude for the rescue and this happy ending.
GILROY, Calif. – First responders in Santa Clara County, on Monday, got a chance to meet the family of a 3-year-old they helped save from drowning. And the family got a chance to express their gratitude.
BBQ tragedy
The incident happened July 5th. Anthony Pettinari, who was actually a month shy of his third birthday at the time, was with his family at a friend’s barbecue near Gilroy.
Anthony, somehow slipped away when their backs were turned. His family believes he saw the covered, above-ground pool and thought it was a trampoline. Friend Eddie Garza was the one to find him.
“I started to say there’s no way he can be in there and by the time I say ‘can,’ Eddie ripped the cover off the pool and I saw Anthony on the bottom and jumped in and grabbed him,” says Anthony’s father, Tim Pettinari.…