6yo drowning in pool as adult watches

CCTV footage shows the gruelling moments a boy fought for his life after falling into a pool - as his cousin stood helpless on the side.

A six-year-old boy was left fighting for his life after he began drowning in a pool in Florida, while an adult stood by until a quick-thinking stranger leapt into action.

Surveillance footage captured the harrowing moments as the boy, Oscar, struggled in the water at a Fort Lauderdale pool, with his cousin desperately calling for help.

The child had fallen in after losing his balance on a pool float and remained submerged for nearly two gruelling minutes as his cousin, who also couldn’t swim, paced anxiously at the pool’s edge.

He flailed his arms in the air as he began sinking to the bottom of the pool.

The dramatic rescue unfolded when Roque Ivan Ocampo, who happened to be working on construction in the building, heard the screams and rushed to help.

Surveillance footage showed Oscar, a six-year-old boy in Florida, drowning in a pool before a heroic stranger came to save his life. Picture: NBC

“He doesn’t move at all, that’s why I thought maybe, ‘He’s dead,’ because he wasn’t moving,” Mr Ocampo told NBC News.

He described the moment as one where “there was no time to think, just to act”.

The footage shows him entering the pool complex, quickly removing his shoes and jumping into the pool.

He pulled Oscar to the surface with the assistance of another bystander and immediately began trying to resuscitate the child.

“I started doing CPR. The kid wasn’t breathing, but I kept doing it and doing it until he started breathing again,” he explained.

After emergency services were called, paramedics took over and could be heard asking the boy if he could squeeze their hand.

He was then rushed to hospital and is expected to make a full recovery.

The boy waved his hands in the air as he sunk to the bottom of the pool. Picture: NBC

A heroic stranger came to the rescue after hearing screams. Picture: NBC

“It takes a lot of bravery to do what he did, and I think Oscar’s outcome would’ve been a lot worse if [he] hadn’t jumped in the pool, pulled him out, and done CPR right away,” said Jamie Bodine, a Fort Lauderdale Police Officer who attended the scene.

“I don’t think we thanked him enough that day,” Mr Bodine said.

The boy and Mr Ocampo reunited the next day, and he told Oscar: “You’re very strong and I’m so proud of you”.

“It was so special, to be honest, a wonderful moment for me,” Mr Ocampo said. “This is the best gift I ever had.”

Roque Ivan Ocampo seen pulling the boy from the water, before administering CPR. Picture: NBC

The boy reunited with his rescuer the next day. Picture: NBC

The internet was left confused by the incident, slamming the boy’s cousin for standing by for so long and for the family leaving the pair alone near a body of water.

“Where were the parents? Why were (they) left alone near the pool without supervision? Something is wrong with this scenario,” said one.

“What a hero. That’s a real lifeguard! For that ‘cousin,’ why do you have a pool when you can’t swim? Why are you even standing there?” someone else wrote.