Near-Drowning Victim Gets Visit From Her Rescuer

LONG BEACH —  He never heard the cries over the chopper’s engine, but Sheriff’s Deputy Kevin Zaborniak said his radio and binoculars told him all he needed to know about the commotion 500 feet below.

Three-year-old Rose Ruiz, blue and lifeless, had just been fished from a swimming pool in Cerritos. Parents Joe and Julie Ruiz, and other relatives, were waving frantically for help.

Immediately, Zaborniak and pilot Monica McIntyre landed at a nearby intersection on Harvest Avenue--a rare feat for a surveillance helicopter. Although an ambulance had been called to the scene, it was still precious minutes away, and Zaborniak sprang from the helicopter to help the child.

“She was blue and I just started breathing for her,” Zaborniak said, referring to the mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. “The nearest emergency unit was still two minutes away. When you’re talking about a drowning victim, two minutes is a long time.”

On Tuesday, three days after Rose toppled into the pool, the girl was preparing to return home to San Pedro from Long Beach Memorial Medical Center. Before she left though, Zaborniak stopped by the hospital to visit.

At first, her parents and doctors feared the worst. Although she had survived the drowning, they worried that she may have suffered severe brain damage. But on Tuesday, Dr. Jeremy Garrett said the girl had managed a stunning, full recovery, and said Zaborniak’s quick action was instrumental.

“I feel blessed, very lucky,” Joe Ruiz said as he thanked the deputy.

Although Saturday’s near-fatal drowning was an event that neither Joe and Julie Ruiz, nor Zaborniak are likely to forget, that’s not the case for Rose. The youngster cannot recall anything that occurred after the dunking.

At the brief reunion in the medical center’s pediatric wing, Rose clung shyly to her mother as Zaborniak said hello and held a stuffed animal as a puppet.

Zaborniak, 31, said that he wasn’t bothered at all by her not knowing who he was and downplayed his role in her recovery.

“That’s a strong kid,” he said. “She’s a fighter, and that’s why she’s going home.”