A potential tragedy was averted thanks to the quick work of a 9-year-old's family.
The child stopped breathing while playing in the water near the family's boat on the
Columbia River.

The little boy was standing near the idling boat's exhaust outlet when he stopped breathing,
according to Multnomah County sheriff's deputies.
A family member pulled him from the water and rushed him toward the Chinook Landing
Docks.

The boy started breathing -- and then crying -- before reaching the docks. Deputies said
he was rushed to the hospital as a precaution.

Carbon monoxide fumes likely played a role, deputies said.

A young boy was recovering from carbon monoxide poisoning Sunday after he stopped
breathing while swimming near the back of his family's idling boat, authorities said.

It happened shortly before 4 p.m. at Chinook Landing Marine Park on the Columbia River
near Fairview. According to the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office, the boy was wearing a
life jacket while playing in the water near the boat's exhaust outlet for some time. When
the family went to move the boat, they found the boy had stopped breathing, and they
pulled him from the water, the sheriff's office said.

By the time medical help arrived to the boat dock, the boy had already started breathing
again. He was taken to Providence Portland Medical Center for treatment of carbon monoxide
poisoning in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber.

The sheriff's office said the boy's chances for survival might have been significantly diminished
had he not been wearing a life jacket.

Swimming holes are popular during the hot-summer months in Arizona, but some local
doctors are warning people to be careful before heading out to a lake or river.
Doctor Robert Baron of Good Samaritan Medical Center says carbon monoxide poisoning at
lakes and rivers is a possible reality.

"Since 1990, we have kept records and have now had over 800 cases of people poisoned
by carbon monoxide just in the United States," Baron told KTAR.
He says excessive exposure to boat engines on lakes and rivers can cause carbon monoxide
poisoning.

"Boat engines do not have catalytic converters on them," Baron said. "Because of that,
they produce 188 times more carbon monoxide than the same engine if it would have
been put into your car."

Baron says people should try to limit their time near boat engines while at the lake or
river.