FLINT-SAGINAW-BAY CITY, MI (WJRT/CNN) - Corunna varsity swimmer Xavier Staubs had just finished a medley relay when in the midst of cheers and the commotion of people getting in and out of the pool, he noticed people trying to get his attention.
"I look over in the stands and my best friend's dads were pointing down and screaming at me to look down, and I looked down and I see this kid just completely limp," Staubs recalled.
He jumped back in the water to get Owosso swimmer Kamrin Samson, who was unconscious and near the bottom.
"My eyes were burning as I was doing this. I clawed to the bottom of the pool, lifted him up with one arm, pushed him to the surface and raised him to the surface with one arm," Staubs explained.
Another Corunna swimmer, who is a certified lifeguard, also helped Staubs.
Then Samson's coach Mike Gute and another man pulled him out of the water.
"Kamrin had the right people there at the time to take care of him. I'm a retired police officer, firefighter. The gentleman that helped me is a retired firefighter and EMT,” Gute said. “My wife was in the stands. She's a pediatric intensive care nurse. There was also another nurse on scene."
"Mostly, just grateful. It was a scary situation. My husband and I were up in the stands, but we didn't have a full visual on him because we were further down in the stands and not right in front of him,” said Cory Samson, the mother of Kamrin. I mean, they were quick on their response, quick getting him out."
Samson's mom says it's his first season on the team and that was his first meet.
After consulting with medical professionals, she believes that he may have had issues with breathing.
Samson is home after being treated in the hospital but he is still recovering and planning to swim again.
"I didn't care if it was a rivalry or anything. I just saw someone needed help and I instantly thought I got to save this guy,"
"There's always this competition, no matter what sport it is. But really, our communities are three to four miles apart and even though there's that rivalry, there's a friendship. And even though -- you know -- no matter what the outcome was of any event that we have, when people need help, good people step forward and that's what life is all about," Gute said.
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