When His 7-Year-Old Son Had a Stroke in the Pool, This Father Saved His Life

When his 7-year-old son had a stroke in the pool, this father saved his life. Parenthood has a way of making you hyperaware of the people you love most. You notice the limps, the sighs, the half-eaten dinners, and the shadows behind their smiles. You carry their stories in your heart long before they know how to tell them themselves. That's why this story about one little boy and his father's quick thinking stopped me in my tracks.

One minute, Geno Mueller was headed toward the swimming pool for a summer day of fun. Next, his father was staring at every parent's worst nightmare.

"As he walked into the pool, I noticed that he was staggering a little bit. And I noticed that his face was drooping," Bo Mueller recalled. "I said, 'Gene, are you okay?'"

The Father Was Able to Save His Son’s Life

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What happened next may have saved his son's life. Bo immediately recognized the signs of a stroke. It's not something most of us expect to see in a child. We hear the word "stroke" and think of adults. Grandparents. Older people. Not a little boy splashing at the pool on a summer afternoon. But Bo trusted what he was seeing.

"For daddy, it was terrifying," Bo said. "I was thinking he's going to die. That was going through my head."

Meanwhile, Geno knew something wasn't right too. "I could touch Dad with my left arm, but I couldn't really touch him with my right arm," he said. "It was pretty scary."

The Boy Was Rushed to the Hospital

Lifeguards called 911, and Geno was rushed to Cleveland Clinic Children's Hospital, where doctors performed emergency surgery to remove a clot from his brain.

The young boy was already at a higher risk because he was born with a heart defect. His mother, Adrienne Mueller, explained that Geno received his first pacemaker when he was just 3 months old and underwent open-heart surgery at age 3 to repair a mitral valve issue.

The Father Saved His Son After a Stroke

What amazes me is how quickly everything changed because one dad paid attention. As moms and dads, we often second-guess ourselves. We wonder if we're overreacting. We tell ourselves it's probably nothing. But Bo listened to that instinct God gave him and acted fast. Today, Geno is back in school with no lasting developmental effects from the stroke, thank God!

Doctors say recognizing stroke symptoms quickly can make all the difference. In Geno's case, it meant the difference between tragedy and a little boy returning to school, playing with friends, and getting back to being a kid. Sometimes heroism doesn't look like capes or headlines. Sometimes it looks like a dad noticing a drooping smile and refusing to ignore it.

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"For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways." Psalm 91:11

WATCH: When His 7-Year-Old Son Had a Stroke in the Pool, This Father Saved His Life

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h/t: People

Featured Image Credit: YouTube/Good Morning America

Heather Riggleman is a believer, wife, mom, author, social media consultant, and full-time writer. She lives in Minden, Nebraska with her kids, high school sweetheart, and three cats who are her entourage around the homestead. She is a former award-winning journalist with over 2,000 articles published. She is full of grace and grit, raw honesty, and truly believes tacos can solve just about any situation. You can find her on GodUpdates, iBelieve, Crosswalk, Hello Darling, Focus On The Family, and in Brio Magazine. Connect with her at www.HeatherRiggleman.com or on Facebook.