'He's a miracle': Community welcomes home 2-year-old boy months after near-drowning

BENSENVILLE, Ill. (WLS) -- A 2-year-old boy is back home, surrounded by loved ones after nearly drowning five months ago.

The family of Cameron Taft got to meet and thank the firefighters and paramedics Saturday who saved the 2-year-old's life.

After months in the hospital while receiving treatment for a severe brain injury from a near-drowning, family, friends and the Bensenville community welcomed the young boy home.

"They didn't think he'd be here and he's proving everybody wrong, and I love it," said the boy's mother, Maureen Taft.

The brain injuries he suffered, after somehow sneaking out the back door and into the pool in October, should have been deadly, doctors said.

"It's probably one of the worst things that you think you would ever want to go through. Just kind of surreal," said the boy's father, Chaz Taft.

It's a day they will never forget.

"He pulled him out. He started CPR with a couple of friends and the ambulance and paramedics and fire department were here in a matter of minutes," Maureen recalled.

Those same first responders were there when Cameron finally came home.

"It's kind of nice to see him again, to be honest," said Trevor Goggin, with the Bensenville Fire Department. "I'm really glad when it's positive on the back end of it. It's really encouraging. It is really nice to see a positive result."

Paramedics revived Cameron twice in the ambulance. He was then transferred to Lurie Children's Hospital, where he fought for his life on a ventilator.

Then, the boy later spent two months in New Orleans on hyperbaric oxygen treatment before going to Phoenix, Arizona, to undergo a stem cell transplant.

All extraordinary measures to save his life.

"What a fighter! He's the strongest dude I know," his mother said.

His family said his progress has been incredible.

Cameron's body tone has relaxed, his head and eyes are now tracking. He can also taste and hold his head up for 30 seconds.

The community now calling him a superhero.

"He's defying all odds. He's a miracle, he really is," Maureen said. "Super Cam? Super Cam, yeah."