They Found a Man Lifeless at the Bottom of a Pool—and Brought Him Back

On April 18, 2026, a group of teenagers was swimming at the Mirabeau Park Hotel pool in Spokane Valley, Washington, when an ordinary afternoon turned into an emergency. A man who had been snorkeling minutes earlier had gone still, face-down at the bottom of the deep end. Most people might have frozen. Instead, 15-year-old Rae Overby noticed him—and acted.

"Luckily, I was able to realize someone was down at the bottom of the pool, not conscious," Overby said. "So I dived down in." With the help of the other young swimmers—Ben Wagele, Weston Collins, and her brother Ethan Overby—she got the unconscious man out of the water and onto the pool deck. Then Overby, who had recently taken a CPR class, started chest compressions on a man whose heart had effectively stopped.

“A man who had been snorkeling minutes earlier had gone still, face-down at the bottom of the deep end.”

A bystander named Tammy Hall heard the commotion and ran toward it. "I just took off running for the pool," she said, taking over compressions and keeping them going until paramedics arrived. By the time incident safety officer Ben Riddle reached the scene, he was stunned by how much lifesaving work the group had already done. As Deputy Chief Brian Treffry put it, "There was a person dead in that pool, and these six individuals got that person out."

The man survived and is now recovering in Seattle. On May 12, the four teens and two adults received the Spokane Valley Fire Department’s Lifesaving Award at a fire commissioners meeting. Overby’s message was simple, and aimed at everyone: learn CPR. "You can use it at any age," she said. "It’s definitely a good time to learn." Because of a teenager who knew what to do and did not hesitate, a stranger is alive to tell the story.