Dr. Howard Smith Oncall

An 80 pound, 11 year old immigrant boy saved a 34 year old man twice his weight from drowning in a Minnesota apartment swimming pool when no other swimmers were around.     Advaik Nandikotkur, an Indian boy only 3 years in this country, was at the pool with his parents, both non-swimmers, when another apartment resident began drowning.  His father was unable to reach the panicked man with a flotation device, but Advaik quickly plunged into the water and pulled the victim to safety. His uncle, untrained in CPR, began working on the drowned man with maneuvers he had seen on   TV and in the movies.  The victim began to recover before the EMTs arrived and took him to the hospital.  Thanks to Advaik’s swift and selfless actions, he made a full recovery.   The near-drowning victim later thanked Advaik for what the St Paul police lauded as heroic actions, but the shy boy underplayed his role.  We can also thank the accuracy of those TV and motion picture CPR rescues for “training” his uncle and contributing to the h