FAIRHAVEN, Mass. (WPRI) — What started as a family reunion in Fairhaven took a devastating turn over the weekend when a 4-year-old boy was discovered at the bottom of a swimming pool.

Dawn Bourdeois tells 12 News her family had gathered for a cookout Saturday afternoon at her house. Her family was preparing to close the pool before dinner when the boy’s 5-year-old cousin spotted him underwater.

“She was walking by and saw him at the bottom of the pool,” Bourdeois recalled. “[She] ran over to their uncles and … they all dived in.”

The ordeal was all a blur for Erin Decrosta, who said her instincts immediately kicked in after the unresponsive boy was pulled from the water.

“It didn’t really register at first,” she said. “You don’t think about it. I really didn’t even remember it until it was all over.”

Decrosta tells 12 News she was the first of three to perform CPR on the child.

Even though she doesn’t remember much, she said every passing second felt like an eternity.

“It’s the emotion that drains you,” Decrosta said. “I wasn’t tired from the CPR, it was the emotion of just seeing the child.”

“Her face was red,” Bourdeois added. “She was exhausted.”

Two other family members — Jen and Chase Howland — eventually took over after Decrosta, according to Bourdeois.

“My nephew Chase went at him and didn’t stop until he came to and started spitting up water,” Bourdeois said. “[The boy] cried and that’s when we knew he was alive. That’s when we knew he came out of it.”

“It was a miracle, it really was,” she continued.

Bourdeois said the boy was rushed to the hospital for evaluation and treatment. He was released on Monday and is doing just fine, she added.

“It could’ve been worse,” she said. “It really could’ve been.”

Bourdeois said the family is also grateful for the off-duty firefighter who heard the commotion and rushed over to make sure everything was alright.