Tiny Sergio Soto dreamed about a pool monster Thursday night as he slept in a hospital bed.
The nightmare was close to reality.
The 6-year-old boy nearly drowned earlier in the day when, he said, an older child pushed and held his head under water at the Pine Creek Apartments pool in Denver.
In his hospital bed Friday, he demonstrated how he had thrashed his arms while trying to get above water before he fell unconscious.
“I was yelling for help,” he said.
After the boy’s motionless body was pulled from the pool, a stranger saved his life, performing CPR on him for five minutes until he began breathing again.
Denver police spokesman John White said the detective investigating the case had not heard of the boy’s story about being pushed and held under water.
“That’s new information with regards to the case, so the investigator will follow up on that,” White said.
With all signs of a complete recovery Friday, Sergio spoke about the man who saved his life, Charles Cordier, an apartment maintenance worker.
“I want to see him because he saved me from the pool,” Sergio said. “He is a good man.”
Rosa Simental, Sergio’s mother, stood beside his hospital bed at the Medical Center of Aurora. She said she plans on thanking Cordier personally for helping her son.
“It’s a miracle that my son is alive,” Simental said.
Dr. Dorsey Beggs said mental trauma such as nightmares caused by the near-drowning could linger.
Sergio said he dreamed that a monster picked him up out of the pool.
“He’s a very lucky little boy,” Beggs said.
She cautioned Simental to not allow her son to go near the pool without a life preserver. Sergio scowled and said he is not going anywhere near the pool. Simental echoed that.
She said that Thursday afternoon’s incident was not the first time that children pushed younger kids under water at the pool, according to the family.
Berta Simental, Rosa’s sister, said that happened to her niece about a week ago.
On Thursday afternoon, there were several kids in the pool. Sergio, who was with his 15-year-old sister who was taking care of him that day, was on the shallow end.
A boy about 12 or 13 whom he didn’t know put his hand on top of his head and pushed him under the water, he said. He closed his eyes and now can’t remember anything else about the incident.
Sergio’s sister did not see what happened to her brother, Berta Simental said.
Sergio was scheduled to return home Friday afternoon. He said he looked forward to seeing his sister and eating pizza.
Staff writer Kirk Mitchell can be reached at 303-820-1206 or kmitchell@denverpost.com.
