Local Lifeguard Saves Drowning Man
A young man’s quick action and CPR skills saved the life of senior Belize City resident. Tonight, sixty-one-year-old Ulrick Young is alive and with his family after a near fatal drowning in Belize City on Wednesday night sometime shortly before seven. A licensed life-guard happened to be in the area and rescued him. News Five’s Andrea Polanco spoke with Shane Pascascio about his heroic action that saved Young’s life.
Andrea Polanco, Reporting
The man in the red shirt and hat is saving an elderly man’s life. He’s twenty-six-year-old Shane Pascascio. This video captures Pascascio conducting compressions while doing CPR on sixty-one-year-old taxi driver Ulrick Nelson Young. Young is seen on the ground coughing up lots of water, as a result of the CPR. It’s a heroic act that trained lifeguard Shane Pascascio is still processing today.
Shane Pascascio
Shane Pascascio, First Responder
“I still nuh process it yet because to me, it nuh feel too real yet as compared to all the incidents I have taken on and saved people’s life. This one really hit me hard. I nuh process it yet, ma’m. Last night mi feel like wah dream.”
Andrea Polanco
“How does it feels for you to save someone during a time of danger; to save a life?”
Shane Pascascio
“Mien, it feels good. It feels very good because without this training and the knowledge I neva mi wah have any – I mi wah be on fret mode but they teach us in those classes not to fret. I feel fi him, mien, and I couldn’t let him die and this happen infront of me and I know something and didn’t perform but they trained us not to fret and that is one of the things that kept me on it.”
Pascascio says that he and his friends were heading to fish near the Port in Belize City when they saw a white SUV veer off into the waters. He says he didn’t go in to the waters immediately because they weren’t sure what had just happened before their eyes. They called the authorities – and shortly after Young floated out of the partially submerged vehicle –as you can see those flickering red lights in the background. So, he sprang into action and his lifeguard skills kicked. He says that cops on the scene believed Young was dead but he knew better.
Shane Pascascio
“We didn’t enter the water. So, we waited for Police to come and by that time he had already taken in water. His belly was full of water and we waited for the police. The man just floated right out the car. He floated right out because he was already full with water and suh. The police say that he think the man dead already. I said, no, he is not dead and we have to save this man. So, he got a piece of wooden stick and bring him in. I said, mien, I need to save this man and perform CPR on him because I am a licensed and certified lifeguard. So, I went into action right away and perform CPR on him. I saw responses that he is giving me. So, I continued and in the video that is where you see all the water coming out of him because I already performed CPR on him and he is responding now. So, I am like, I need to give you more. And I started slowly talking to him so that he can talk back to me or grab my hand that he is listening to me. So, I am like sir, nuh worry mien, I got you! I got yuh! I trained for this. I got yuh. Nuh dis one yah. I got yuh.”
Andrea Polanco
“What was going through your mind while giving this help?”
Shane Pascascio
“I mi just need fi mek this work. I mi can’t fail this one yah. This mi feel like one of the major ones deh because ma’am I save a lot of people. I lost count. But this one to me, at the age of the man, I mi need to save he.”
Andrea Polanco
“So, you were at the right place at the right time?”
Shane Pascascio
“Yes, right place and right time, yes, I was at the right place. Dah like deh send we back deh you know because we nearly cancelled the trip.”
Pascascio is a trained lifeguard for nine years. He became certified after almost drowning when he was a little boy. Those lessons have helped him to save lives before. And last night those life-saving skills helped him to save Young’s life.
Shane Pascascio
“Three of us were on that trip.”
Andrea Polanco
“And you are the only one trained to be able to perform CPR?”
Shane Pascascio
“Yes, I am the only one who is able to performed CPR with the knowledge I have and I have been trained by the YWCA. That’s where I get my certificate from. Before all of this, I was actually a victim of drowning and the person who saved me he is my teacher and then I gained my certificate through the Y they certified me and Red Cross. I give back my service right to the Y right where I nearly drowned.”
Andrea Polanco
“Did your personal story of drowning, perhaps made you act quicker last night?”
Shane Pascascio
“Yes, that was one of the reasons I acted a little quicker because I’ve already felt how this man was feeling under the water.”
Andrea Polanco
“If you get to speak to this person that you saved, what are you hoping to tell him?”
Shane Pascascio
“Mien, I would just tell him to take care of himself, you know.”
Pascacio says that he believes Young may have suffered a stroke which caused him to lose control of his vehicle and plunge into the sea. He is hospitalized in a stable condition. Reporting for News Five, I’m Andrea Polanco.
