'There was no hesitation' when Portage la Prairie man saved 2-year-old from drowning

A Portage la Prairie man who saved a two-year-old boy from drowning at a beach on the south shore of Lake Manitoba says he's relieved to know the toddler is safe.

Preston Houle, 29, was relaxing with his fiancée and three children at Delta Beach, about 25 kilometres north of their home in Portage la Prairie, on July 18 when he heard a woman screaming for help around 6:15 p.m.

The woman was holding her unconscious son in her arms by the water. Houle said "there was no hesitation" when he started running down the beach toward the mother. 

"I told her, 'I'll take him from here,'" Houle said in an interview with CBC on Sunday. 

The toddler wasn't breathing, was turning pale and didn't appear to have a pulse, Houle said.

He laid the unconscious two-year-old down on the sandbar while his fiancée called 911 and worked to calm down the boy's mother.

"I did chest compressions on him for roughly about two minutes or so," Houle said. 

"When I started seeing him spit the water out, I knew we were onto something." 

Houle took first-aid training last year but had never had to perform CPR before.

His fiancée relayed information from the 911 dispatcher as a crowd of bystanders gathered around him during chest compressions. 

"She guided me through everything to make sure everything was going to be fine," Houle said. 

"I've got to thank paramedics for giving us great guidance over the phone," he added.

Despite a life-or-death situation, Houle said he was able to block out the anxiety until paramedics arrived. 

"I was zoned in and just focused on the child at the time," he said. 

Houle said the child was wrapped in towels and breathing steadily when loaded into the ambulance and taken to hospital.

"When the ambulance came, I just kind of stood back and let them perform their work. It really hit after, when I saw them driving away," he said. 

Houle said a sense of worry set in after the adrenaline from the rescue began to wear off. He learned days later that the two-year-old was doing fine after he started getting social media messages and phone calls thanking him — including a call from Portage la Prairie Mayor Sharilyn Knox. 

A week after the near drowning, Manitoba RCMP said in a press release the boy would make a full recovery. Police said he may not have survived if Houle hadn't stepped in. 

"I'm actually feeling a lot of relief now. A lot of pressure is off knowing that the child is actually doing fine now," Houle said.

He said there are a lot of sandbars at Delta Beach, forcing swimmers to walk out to reach the water. Houle said parents should keep their kids close when they are playing in or near water. 

"Situations like this can happen so fast," he said, adding he explained the importance of water safety to his three children after the rescue. 

"Every second is important, especially when it comes to a two-year-old boy."

Houle, who works as a diesel mechanic, said he is reconsidering becoming an emergency responder. He said he has long dreamed of becoming an officer with the Manitoba First Nations Police Service. 

"With the situation that happened, I believe that this is what I want to do — help the community," he said. 

"If it ever reoccurred, I'd be there again to help."

CBC News has reached out to the boy's family but has not yet received a response. However, family members have posted on social media to praise the quick response of Houle and his fiancée.