Mother hears “whispers,” revives toddler

“Spirit” saves Sara (Newspaper title)

This article appeared in The Surrey/North Delta Leader September 5 and is reprinted with permission.

Even though she has been deaf since birth, a 37-year-old Newton mom “heard” her daughter Sara was in trouble when the one-year-old fell into a backyard wading pool and nearly drowned.

Photo courtesy of Surrey/North Delta Leader

“My spirit heard ‘Sara! Sara!’ whispered over and over,” Lisa Grimeau explained, patting her chest over her heart and writing her thoughts on a piece of paper on the kitchen table.

“If I didn’t respond to ‘whispers,’ she’d be dead,” Grimeau writes.

Not only did Grimeau – a mom of six – realize her youngest child was in danger, she saved her life with CPR knowledge gleaned from TV.

Last Monday (Aug. 25), with Samantha, 11, Jamie, 7, Gabriel, 5, Gilbert, 4, and Jessica, 3, busy drawing in the kitchen, little Sara, age one, slipped out a sliding glass door Grimeau had previously closed and fell into an inflatable plastic pool filled with about a foot of water.

Within minutes, Grimeau, who keeps track of her brood with keen eyes, vibrations from their movements, and at night, a noise detector that flashes lights, noticed Sara missing and frantically raced through the house.

When she realized the curly-haired toddler had ventured outside, Grimeau panicked. She found the girl submerged in the pool.

“She was blue,” says Grimeau, her hands circling her face. “I blew into her mouth and nose,” she says, “not hard, like for an adult, but softly.”

She remembered the infant mouth-to-mouth resuscitation technique from a television program she saw years ago.

Sara promptly coughed up a stream of water and smiled at her mom, thinking Grimeau had given her a big kiss.

Meanwhile, sister Samantha had called 911, and Sara was taken to Surrey Memorial Hospital and later released. She has made a full recovery.

Grimeau’s husband Tim, 38, who is also deaf, was surprised to learn his wife picked up her life-saving know-how from the small screen. The couple plan to take a formal first aid course once an interpreter can be arranged. That type of training is something that’s necessary for people with small children, says Surrey firefighter Capt. Dean Cleave.

“Or young adults and the elderly for that matter,” he says. “The fire department often arrives on scene at an emergency and finds a lot of bystanders standing around, not knowing what to do. That time can mean the difference between life and death.”

As for Sara’s pool, it’s been emptied and folded up – for good.

“[We all] must think hard before we decide to buy a pool if we have children,” Grimeau says. “You never know. You could be in the laundry room or washroom . . .”

Hugging a giggling Sara to her cheek, Grimeau says she is thankful for the second chance to enjoy her daughter, who celebrated her first birthday July 11.

—Paula Carlson

Lisa Grimeau is a member of the Deaf Community Christian Church in North Delta, B.C. In sending us this story, she added her testimony of praise to God. Grimeau says that, while she was frightened when she found her baby in the pool, she felt the peace of God, and knew in her heart that God was with her. Grimeau realizes that Sara would have died if it had not been for God whispering Sara’s name in her heart. This potentially tragic situation, she says, has strengthened her faith in Jesus, and she wants her story to teach others the importance of listening closely to God’s “inner voice.” This second chance she has with Sara is a gift from God, she says. “It’s a real miracle.”