Junior lifeguard training credited with saving toddler in Buckeye pool
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Summary
The Robles family says older brother Noah, who completed Buckeye's junior lifeguard program, administered chest compressions after Marley, about 2, nearly drowned; the family and program leaders urged water-safety education amid 25 reported drowning deaths so far this year in Maricopa and Pinal counties.
A Buckeye family says quick action by an older brother trained in Buckeye’s junior lifeguard program saved a toddler who slipped into a backyard pool.
Unidentified Robles parent said they “went underwater,” grabbed the toy and then “saw Marley sinking to the bottom of the pool.” Marley Robles, just shy of 2 years old, was pulled from the water after what the parent described as about three seconds of submersion and did not appear to be breathing. “She threw up water twice,” the parent said. “But she was still limp, and she did not take an inhale, and she was not breathing.”
The family credits Noah Robles, who had completed Buckeye’s junior lifeguard program, with performing chest compressions that ultimately prompted Marley to cough and breathe. “I just had to, like, really, like, block it all out and said, like, get it done. Just get down the chest compressions… and just repeat until she woke up,” Noah Robles said. The parent described a final episode in which Marley “choked and threw up 1 last time,” then rolled over, coughed out the rest of the water and cried; the parent said they then “picked her up.”
A narrator on the recording said pool time is a daily ritual for many Arizona families and noted that “so far this year, 25 drowning deaths have been reported in Maricopa and Pinal Counties.” The Robles family credited the junior lifeguard training for preventing Marley from becoming “another statistic.”
Two years after the incident, the family said Marley is a strong swimmer and that another older brother, Eli Robles, has also completed the junior lifeguard program and now helps teach others. “Kids and teenagers can do a lot and absorb a lot,” the parent said, thanking program staff and trainers for making the training available and for “pouring into these kids.”
The recording closes with a statement about the Buckeye Aquatic Center’s mission to promote water safety through lessons and clinics and directs listeners to buckeyeaz.gov/rec for program information. The account combines a personal rescue narrative with a public-safety reminder and local program outreach.