Northbrook Firefighter Revives Teenager While Vacationing in WI

Eric Pelot says he's helped resuscitate hundreds of people, but this was the first time he brought someone back to life while on vacation. 

The 38-year-old Northbrook firefighter and Hoffman Estates resident was staying at the Kalahari Resort in Wisconsin Dells on June 9 when a 14-year-old girl was pulled out of a swimming pool after having, what appeared to be, a seizure. 

Pelot says the girl wasn't breathing and had no pulse when he and pool lifeguards began resuscitating her. 

"I was just at the right place, at the right time," Pelot said. "It's my job, this is just what I do, even though I'm on vacation."

Pelot says he basically took over the situation, since most of the other staff nearby were young lifeguards who didn't have as much CPR experience. 

He began breathing for her while other lifeguards did chest compressions, and then he helped apply an AED to shock the girl and bring back her pulse. 

"I don't see it as a heroic gesture," Pelot said. "I just see it as doing the right thing." 

Pelot said he saved up his vacation days over the years to take an extended trip to Alaska on his motorcycle — taking a more than 4,000 mile scenic route to Fairbanks. 

He returns to Northbrook on July 25.