The close proximity of a Pearl River County Sheriff’s Deputy may have saved the life of an 8 year-old boy.

According to a press release from the sheriff’s department, the deputy received the call on Monday concerning a boy drowning in a swimming pool.

Capt. Chris Lott said the deputy was only a quarter-of-a-mile from the location and was able to get there quickly. When the deputy arrived, he saw the child at the bottom of the pool and dove in to pull the child out of the pool, Lott said.

By that time emergency responders were on scene and began CPR. The boy was then taken to Highland Community Hospital and later transferred to NorthShore Hospital in Slidell, La.

The child was last known to be in the ICU at NorthShore but further information on the child’s condition is not available.

Lott said the child was being watched by two adults who did not know how to swim and were not the child’s parents, Lott said.

Lott did not have information as to what caused the child suffer the near drowning.