Youngest heroes

Costa Mesa Fire Department officials on Tuesday praised the quick

thinking and intuition of two young Costa Mesa boys who saved a

little girl from drowning.

Kenneth Ottens, 11, and David Davis, 12, were given the city’s

first citizen rescuer awards for pulling David’s 9-year-old sister,

Jessica, from the Halecrest neighborhood pool Sunday after she nearly

drowned. The Fire Department honored the boys in a ceremony at Fire

Station One.

“To me it’s incredible that he [Kenneth] had the composure,” said

Capt. Curt Yoder. “He jumped right in and went to work.”

Kenneth was swimming in the deep end when he noticed the girl

laying motionless at the bottom of the swimming pool.

“I just thought that I better go and check on her because she

looked like she wasn’t alive,” Kenneth said.

He grabbed her by the leg and pulled her to the surface; Jessica’s

brother David helped him drag her to the side of the pool. Jessica

and her brother are autistic.

Adults called 911 and Jessica’s father, Scott Davis, began

performing CPR with the help of others. Jessica was conscious and

breathing by the time paramedics arrived.

“All I saw was my daughter at the top of the pool -- blue. That’s

all I had to see,” Davis said.

Firefighter paramedic Chris Holmes was first on scene. He said

that the team of community rescuers did all the work, paramedics only

acted as a taxi to the hospital.

“It was all done by the time we got there,” Holmes said.

Jessica was hospitalized and observed as a precaution.

“I was really blue,” Jessica said Tuesday, as she bounced happily

around the fire station.

Jessica’s near-drowning was a scare that followed two drownings in

Newport-Mesa this year. In May, 2-year-old Christian Diaz was found

at the bottom of a Costa Mesa apartment complex swimming pool. Police

said Christian wandered out of an apartment while his mother was

taking a nap.

Taylor Ackroyd, 3, drowned May 5 in a poolside spa in a Newport

Beach condominium complex. Police said his father had left him alone

in the pool area with a teenage sibling for less than 3 minutes.

Drownings can be prevented if parents teach their children water

safety, said Brenda Emrick, of the Costa Mesa Fire Department.

One of the most critical tips is to create barriers, such as

fences, pool covers and gates, between children and water, Emrick

said.

But no barrier can substitute for adult supervision, Emrick said.

“Being aware and paying attention to what’s happening is

important,” Emrick said.

In the case of Sunday’s incident, Jessica was lucky that the

community pool was filled with responsible people who knew how to

handle the emergency, Emrick said.

Kenneth’s stint as a lifesaver may have inspired a future career

path; he’s already planning to take CPR classes.

“I’ve always wanted to be a firefighter,” Kenneth said.