A California high-schooler is being hailed as a hero after administering CPR to save a little girl.

Surrounded by adults, it was the 15-year-old Madison Atkinson who stepped forward to save her cousin, a 3-year-old who had seemingly drowned in the pool.

It was Thanksgiving when the Atkinson family was together with their relatives for the day. Losing sight of 3-year-old Maxine, they thought she was playing with the other kids, when she had actually wandered outside to the pool.

Surveillance camera footage captured the moment when Maxine falls in the pool, and later when Uncle Damien sees her floating face down and rushes in to pull her out, calling for help while he does it.

"I saw that he was trying the Heimlich," Madison told ABC 7 news. "But I knew in that case you needed CPR because she didn't seem like she was breathing. I told everyone I knew CPR and it calmed everyone down."

It didn't take long for the girl to be revived, and for the two families to thank their lucky stars Madison had learned CPR in class.

"I'm literally watching a 15-year-old girl basically bring back our niece, a 3-year-old, to life," Damien Gilbert said. "It was something that I'll remember for the rest of my life."

CPR can take less than an afternoon to learn, and it can save the life of anyone, even an elephant, and even after it has been performed for hours on a person with no pulse.

WATCH the story below from ABC 7… 

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