By Chris Cannon
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Police said the near drowning of a 12-year-old girl at the Hickory Lake Apartments on Apache Trail in Antioch appeared to be accidental.
Officials said Bineta Majhi was taken to Vanderbilt Children's Hospital and was in critical condition Wednesday night, according to a hospital spokeswoman.
The call went out around 1:35 p.m. Wednesday at the apartment complex, near Haywood Lane.
Majhi was discovered at the bottom of the pool. The father of one of the children at the playing nearby helped pull Majhi from the water.
"He actually pulled her out and another lady pulled her out and a lady was doing CPR to her," 10-year-old Lani Perez Santana explained.
By that point other adults had rushed to the pool to help with the rescue efforts.
"My sister got on the phone and she was calling the ambulance. When she was doing that we were trying to bring her back to life," Maria Ortiz said.
It's not clear how long Majhi was under water. The two adults got her out of the pool and said at that point she was not breathing.
Witnesses said Majhi was eating a bowl of rice before she slipped under water. Ortiz said that made the rescue effort even more difficult.
"I just dug man hand in there and started getting it out. By the time I was pushing more food was coming out so I just kept getting it out and getting it out," Ortiz explained.
Ortiz and Perez-Santana's father were able to revive Majhi with CPR before she was taken to the hospital by ambulance.
The aquatic director for the YMCA of Middle Tennessee said it can sometimes be difficult to notice when someone swimming is in trouble.
"That doesn't always look like it does on Baywatch with the person flailing their arms around, splashing and screaming. They can slip under the water very silently," according to Erik Houston.
Witnesses said Majhi may have hit her head while swimming and that could have caused her to go under the water.
Metro Police have determined this to be an accidental near-drowning.
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