5-year-old who nearly drowned released from hospital and happy to be home in Adams County

She returned to her Adams County home on Thursday after recovering at Hershey Medical Center from a July 4 near-drowning.

Ted Czech
York Daily Record

A 5-year-old girl who nearly drowned in the Littlestown area on July 4 is now home after receiving treatment at Hershey Medical Center, her mother said Sunday.

"She’s doing great," said Elsa's mother, Stephanie Noel. "We are home and celebrated their birthday yesterday."

And by "their" Noel meant a shared birthday between Elsa and her twin, Emma.

In addition to being reunited with family and friends, there are thank-yous to be made, Noel said.

"We will be taking her to the fire station this week so she can see the first-responders that were there at the scene," she said.

Elsa, 5, right, hugs twin sister Emma, after returning home in Adams County after a near-drowning on July 4.

Just before 3:30 p.m. on July 4, rescue units responded to a home in the 1500 block of Fish and Game Road for a near-drowning, said EMS Captain Mike Cahill of Alpha Fire Company in Littlestown.

Noel said Elsa was wearing a "puddle-jumper" — a life-vest with arm-floaties — but took it off and got back in a pool at a relative's house.

"Her daddy saved her," Noel said on July 5. "He is a sheriffs deputy in Maryland and trained in cpr. When she came out she was blue with no pulse and he did CPR on her and saved her life. The first-responders all played a huge part too but my husband saved her life."

When emergency medical personnel arrived, they took over medical care. A STAT-MedEvac helicopter also arrived at the nearby Bethel Assembly of God property, located at 1125 Frederick Pike in Littlestown and Elsa was wheeled to it on a stretcher.

Elsa was initially placed on a ventilator while at Hershey, Noel said.

Elsa, 5, is now home after recovering from a near-drowning in the Littlestown area on July 4. Her father started CPR immediately and she was later transported to Hershey Medical Center.

Ted Czech is a multi-platform crime/emergency journalist with The York Daily Record. He can be reached at tczech@ydr.com, at 717-771-2033 or on Twitter at @TedCzechYDR