Vacationing family saves toddler buried alive on Newport Beach

A Mesa family came to the rescue while vacationing in Newport Beach. A toddler became buried alive in the sand and the three Good Samaritans dug him out and revived him.

Jesse Martin and Stuart and Steven Frost were on their annual vacation with their families. On Saturday, they came across a mother frantically screaming, looking for her missing 2-year-old son. The trio sprang into action and their efforts saved the toddler's life.

2-year-old Brooks, safe in his mother's arms, was reunited with the Arizona men who saved his life. The two families didn't know each other before Saturday, now they're lifelong friends. The Mesa family was in Newport Beach for the holiday and described the heart-stopping moments on the sand.

"She didn't realize just two feet in front of her under the sand, he was buried," said Stuart Frost.

While the boy's parents scoured the ocean waters, Jesse, Stuart and Steve began digging in the sand. They come here every year and were warned before about the dangers of becoming trapped in collapsing sand.

"And Jesse's like, I found him. It was the most amazing.. he pulls the boy out by his swimming suit face down in the hole.. he had to dig a foot and a half to two feet down," explained Stuart. "My nephew pulled him out. Poor little Brook's face was gray. His lips were gray. He was dead."

Stuart is an orthodontist and Steven is an endodontist. Both are CPR certified. They cleared the sand out of Brooks' mouth and gave him compressions. Eventually, the toddler started breathing again.

"He cleared his mouth out more and put two breaths in and Brooks started screaming and woke up and started yelling for his mom. It was truly the most miraculous thing I ever experienced in my life," said Stuart.

Two days later, their paths crossed again at the beach, but this time, it was all hugs, thank yous and high-fives. The 2-year-old was unscathed by his near-death experience.

Little Brooks crawled into a sand tunnel that someone else had dug and it collapsed on top of him without his parents even noticing. Lifeguards at Newport Beach warn sand entrapment is a danger many beachgoers don't know about. They say no one should ever dig a hole that is deeper than one foot.