Twin toddlers found unresponsive in backyard pool in Texas

A 2-year-old boy is in critical condition at Dell Children’s Medical Center.

His twin brother died Saturday when he drowned in their pool in the backyard. He was the fifth child to drown in Texas this year.

Demi Schroeder woke up to a nightmare last weekend.

“I wake up Saturday morning. Early in the morning and they’re not in the room,” she said.

Her twin sons, Noah and Levi, were gone. The three were visiting her grandmother in Cedar Creek between Austin and Bastrop, after her grandfather had died two weeks ago.

Schroeder and her grandmother split up, looking for the toddlers.

“All of a sudden, I hear my Nanny say they’re in the pool back here and I run from the front yard to the back yard and my grandma is pulling my kids out of the pool,” she said, dissolving into tears.

Schroeder thinks the boys were in the pool for just minutes and that Noah went in first because he loved the water.

She called 9-1-1. Within minutes, Bastrop County Sheriff’s deputies were there.

“They go split up and they start doing CPR on my babies,” she said.

Schroeder thinks Levi went in the water after his brother because his heart started beating first.

“He got a pulse and a heartbeat back at the house,” she said.

STAR Flight took Levi to the hospital. Noah went by ambulance. In the emergency room, Noah put up a fight for his life, while Schroder and her sister and grandmother tried to encourage him.

“They ask me what they need from me and I said I need you to sing for him, so we all sing his favorite song and he had a little heartbeat,” she sobbed. “I think that was the last time his heart beat on its own.”

The “Donate Life” flag flutters outside the front door of the hospital, in honor of Noah. According to KEYE, his organs were donated to five different people, a single highlight in a grim week for the family.

“Any love and support anybody can give us is what we need and what we want right now,” Schroeder said.

Schroeder has turned her full attention to Levi, her surviving son, who still hasn’t given up. Doctors say he is breathing on his own.

“He’s opening his eyes and he’s so groggy from medication,” Schroeder said. “Right now, we’re just fighting for Levi and that’s all we’re worried about is him.”

A GoFundMe account has been set up to help the family with funeral and medical expenses.