Miraculously, baby Elijah suffered no permanent damage as a result of the horrific ordeal.
A frantic mom found her 17-month-old floating unconscious in their backyard swimming pool in Texas in a horrifying moment captured on video.
Tanah Zuniga said she and her sister, Karly James, were in the kitchen of her Fort Worth home when her 17-month-old and his 2-year-old cousin managed to open a sliding door and wander into the backyard.
They both climbed four feet up into the above-ground pool. Neither child knew how to swim.
“We didn't know that it would be that simple for them because it's like a heavy door," Zuniga told Inside Edition.
Surveillance video captured the moment the 17-month-old began drowning in the water. His cousin is seen trying to help him before going back inside the home for help.
Once the moms realized what was happening, they took off through the back door.
“It was the worst feeling in my life,” Zuniga said. “My heart just dropped when I saw him I literally thought, that's a baby doll, that can't be my son.”
James administered CPR while Zuniga dialed 911.
"It felt like eternity and a second, all at the same time," James said
Zuniga said part of her knew her son was gone because “his lips were blue, his face was white."
But suddenly, 2-year-old Elijah began to make noise and breathe.
He was transported to a local hospital, but is expected to make a full recovery.
“God saved my baby," Zuniga said. "God brought my baby back that day. When you least expect it, things happen."
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