Dad’s Quick Reaction Saves Boy

Dennis Higgins couldn’t believe it was his son floating in the lake - lifeless.

But the small boy floating in Kidd Island bay was 22-month-old Curran Higgins.

So on Tuesday, the first day of the Higgins family vacation, Dennis Higgins brought his son back from near death.

“It was just miraculous to us,” Higgins said Tuesday evening.

At about 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, the Spokane family and several relatives had just arrived at the Kidd Island Bay cabin they were renting for the week.

“It was chaotic,” with six adults unpacking and six children exploring, Higgins said. That’s when Curran slipped outside alone.

Higgins realized something was wrong when his 17-year-old daughter, nearly speechless with shock, asked, “Who’s floating in the lake, dad?”

“I looked down from the porch and (Curran) was floating in the lake,” Higgins said. “I couldn’t believe it was my son.”

Higgins jumped into about 9 feet of water and pulled his son onto the dock. As a mental health technician he had been trained in CPR and immediately began the life-reviving procedure on the unconscious boy.

About a minute later, Curran vomited and started breathing. A Kootenai County Sheriff’s Department marine boat helped rush Curran to Kootenai Medical Center.

Dennis Higgins says he realized his son would be fine as they got out of the ambulance at the hospital.

“He said ‘Are we going bye-bye to church?”’ Higgins explained. “That’s when I kind of laughed and cried and realized he was going to be all right for sure.”

Curran was treated and released from the hospital. By 6 p.m. Tuesday he was back to normal, throwing a ball around the cabin.”It’s going to get better from here on,” Higgins said.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo