LEAVENWORTH, Kan. – A family is thanking a quick-thinking college student for saving a 2-year-old girl’s life.
On Friday, Leavenworth’s public pool was packed. The town’s hotspot, located at 13th and Shawnee, had an estimated 900 people fill the water, diving boards and slides. The crowd included Jennifer and Kent Swartz and their four children.
Around 5 p.m., the family had just finished up some snacks. As Jennifer checked on the status of the kids, she did not see 2-year-old Alena anywhere.
“It only takes 15 to 20 seconds,” she said. “My first thought was that she’d been taken.”
At the same time, Linda Johnson was wading through the water and felt something at her feet. Alena was lying unconscious on the pool floor.
Nineteen-year-old lifeguard Blair Tarnawski was on duty nearby, and spotted Johnson carrying Alena’s limp body in her arms. The college student leapt into action, laying Alena on the pool deck, checking her pulse, and then she began to perform CPR.
“Everything went blank. I didn’t hear anybody, I didn’t see anyone else. It was just me and the little girl,” Tarnawski said.
Across the pool, Jennifer recognized the polka dots on her daughter’s bathing suit.
“I just kept screaming, ‘No! No! No!” she said.
But by the time Jennifer and Kent had rushed to their daughter’s side, Alena had started breathing and opened her eyes.
Tarnawski, a second-year nursing student at nearby University of St. Mary, had put her training to the test and passed with flying colors. Doctors told the Swartz family all the credit should be placed on her shoulders for saving Alena’s life.
“I was just doing my job!” Tarnawski said with a laugh.
But the Swartz family insists she did much more. Alena, who was monitored at Children’s Mercy over the weekend, appears to have escaped any lingering health problems from the incident.
“I saw her for the first time today and my eyes watered up and I gave her a big hug,” Jennifer said. “I know she may think it’s just her job, but she doesn’t realize what she gave to us. It’s just an incredible blessing.”
Aquatics director Pam Simpson said it is the first time a lifeguard has administered CPR since the pool opened seven years ago.
