Thursday, August 5, 1999 Older Editions

Lifeguard a hero at Pomps Pond

By Neil Fater

As a lifeguard at toddler-friendly Pomps Pond, Mike Burnett has heard plenty of kids scream in his ear. But on Saturday, he actually enjoyed it.

That's because the 3-year-old boy crying in his ear Saturday was convincingly letting Burnett know that he could breathe again.

Memorable day -- Pomps Pond lifeguard Mike Burnett (front) smiles after helping to save a child. Behind him are fellow lifeguards Josh Shulman, Doug Henderson, Stephan Buba and Davd Chapin.

Burnett, 17 and a future Andover High School senior, had just saved the child from a near drowning.

"Once he heard sirens and he looked around at what was happening, he started wailing. Wailing right in my ear," says Burnett. "That was the best sound I heard -- him crying. Usually, it's annoying, but (this time) it was a sound I loved to hear."

Burnett says lifeguards noticed the boy in the water around 6 p.m. Saturday, as many people were leaving the pond.

"We saw a kid floating," says Burnett. "I watched him for about five to eight seconds. He was in a 'dead man's float' position. We have a lot of kids who do the dead man's float."

But something seemed strange with the boy police later identified as Anthony Amara, of Oxford Street, Lawrence.

"It just seemed weird, because he wasn't moving at all," says Burnett.

Anthony's brother, who was also in the water, lifted the boy and Burnett saw that the 3-year-old "was completely limp."

So, while fellow lifeguard Katya Yerozolimsky ran to call 911, Burnett ran into the water.

He put Anthony on a surfboard the lifeguards call a "shark," and saw that he was not breathing. He also learned the boy had not suffered any kind of head or body injury to knock him unconscious.

But once he got the toddler out of the water, Burnett heard some gurgling.

"There was water in his lungs, but he was breathing a little bit," he says. "He was unconscious, and needed a little help."

Burnett, a Boy Scout working on his Eagle Scout project, gave him that help by tilting his head, and took care of the boy while he coughed up water and vomited. Later, emergency personnel congratulated Burnett on what he had done. Burnett says he wants to give credit to all of the lifeguards who do the same job he does.

"It feels good, but it wasn't all me," he says. "It was everybody put together. If that ambulance didn't come as fast as it did, or our other lifeguard didn't respond as fast as she did, who knows what would have happened?"

Burnett has been a lifeguard for three summers, but this is his first summer at Pomps Pond. He says he's never been involved with anything like a drowning.

"Nothing like this. I've been in the water to help out tired swimmers getting back, but nothing like this," he says.

Before this summer, he had just been recertified for both lifeguard training and CPR for professional rescue he says.

"The only reason you do through the recertification is to refresh your memory," he says. "You always came to the job and wonder, 'Will I remember everything?' When I pulled that kid out of the water, I didn't forget anything."

Burnett says that every day he and his fellow lifeguards go through the same routine. They come and open up the park, clean up the beach from the night before and put out the boats. But Saturday will always be special, says Burnett.

"That day will stand out for the rest of my life. It's just something that stays with you for a while, when you save someone's life," he says. "I was really shook up after the rescue. It was just the adrenaline wearing off."

Now, both he and little Anthony seem as if they'll be just fine.

Saturday night, after the pond closed, Burnett went to the hospital to check on Anthony. The father thanked him, he says, and (eventually) so did the nurses.

"They wanted to know who I was and they gave me a bit of attitude," he says with a smile. "But once they knew who I was, they (congratulated) me."