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Stranger saves 4-year-old boy who nearly drowned at park

COOLEEMEE, N.C. — A 4-year-old Mocksville boy is recovering after he nearly drowned while playing in the popular Bullhole swimming area at RiverPark in Cooleemee.
 
A fun family outing over the weekend turned into a frantic rescue. A mom told deputies she and her family were playing in the water at the RiverPark in Cooleemee when she counted her children and realized her 4-year-old was missing.
 
Jacob Nastally, 21, came to the rescue this weekend after he noticed the 4-year-old floating in the water.
 
"His head was underwater and his belly was above water and that's how I really knew something was really, really wrong," Nastally said.
 
Nastally swam out and pulled the boy from the water. His friend called 911 while he started CPR.  It's something he learned in fifth grade but had never used.
 
"It was instinct I guess, it just came over. God really played a big toll on this one," he said.
 
He worked on the boy for more than 20 minutes until he started breathing on his own.
 
"I looked up and said, 'Thank you Jesus' about 500 times," said Nastally.
 
Channel 9 told dad Brett Joubert about the near-drowning over the weekend. He said it's a close call that makes him keep an even closer watch over his three children playing in the same swimming hole Monday. 
 
"Accidents happen in a split second, that's how fast they happen," said Joubert.
 
Nastally hadn't planned to be at the park that day but changed his mind at the last minute.
 
It is a decision he now believes was not a coincidence. 
 
"I believe I was supposed to be there for this specific reason," he said.
 
Just the day before he saved the boy's life Nastally said he talked to him mom about his desire to work as an emergency medical technician.
 
He said this has motivated him to take steps towards making it happen.
 
Channel 9 spoke to the boy's mother by phone.   She didn't want to go on camera but said she's thankful and appreciates everyone who helped to save her son's life and said he's expected to make a full recovery.

A 4-year-old Mocksville boy is recovering after he nearly drowned while playing in the popular Bullhole swimming area at RiverPark in Cooleemee.

He was saved by a 21-year-old man who saw the boy floating in the water. Anchor Tenikka Smith spoke to that man about he used techniques he learned in the fifth grade to save the boy. See the full report on Eyewitness News at 5. http://bit.ly/1qB290Q