Child Survives 15 Minutes In Lake

A 13-month toddler was revived after spending about 15 minutes in the chilly waters of Sunset Lake near here, but nurses said it was too soon to tell how the girl will fare.

She was in critical condition Friday morning at Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital in Tacoma.

Pierce County sheriff’s deputies believe the girl wandered away from her parents and other family members celebrating Thanksgiving in a rented hall at the Sunset Lake Church Camp, said sheriff’s spokesman Curt Benson.

Two of her uncles are nurses and began CPR immediately. Moments later, volunteer rescuers with Pierce County Fire arrived to work on the girl until an ambulance arrived, which took her to an Airlift Northwest helicopter, Benson said.”The timing and the circumstances could not have been better for the survival of this child,” Benson said.

She arrived at Mary Bridge hospital with a body temperature of 83 degrees.

The girl and her parents are from Dillingham, Alaska.