Woman Commended for Saving Life of Toddler Found in Pool

The wife of a prominent TV newscaster was lauded Wednesday by the Los Angeles Fire Department for saving the life of her neighbor’s 2-year-old boy, found floating in a swimming pool.

“We consider her efforts to be commendable,” Brian Humphrey, a spokesman for the Fire Department, said of Rosalynn Smith-Clark--the wife of KCAL-TV news anchorman Dave Clark--declaring she saved the life of the nearly drowned boy.

The boy was listed in stable condition at Encino-Tarzana Regional Medical Center, Humphrey said.

The near-drowning happened about 6 p.m. at a house in the 5100 block of Gloria Avenue, next-door to the Clarks’ home, Humphrey said.

The Clarks were in their living room watching television, Humphrey said, when they heard the screams of the boy’s mother and grandmother next door.

Smith-Clark bolted past her husband and ran straight to her neighbors’ backyard, where the boy had been pulled from the water by the two women but was without a pulse and not breathing, Humphrey said.

Despite the women’s hysteria, Humphrey said, Smith-Clark initiated rescue breathing and CPR, stimulating a faint breath in the boy.

When the paramedics arrived, Smith-Clark gave them the proper history, he said.

“She retained a very cool, calm and professional demeanor, which is necessary in that kind of situation,” Humphrey said.

The boy’s mother and grandmother--both unidentified--said they had gone inside the house for a few minutes and returned to find the boy floating in the pool, Humphrey said.