WNY fireman tries to save boy at Disney

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) - A winter getaway to the happiest place on Earth took an unexpected and tragic turn.

It wasn't the Disney World vacation a Buffalo firefighter had imagined. He helped pull an unconscious boy from a pool and desperately tried to save his life.

William Cybulski has been a firefighter for two years, and in that time, he's never had to deal with the death of a child. Days after Cybulski pulled the boy from a pool at Disney World, he would learn the boy died.

"It is tough to see a little boy there, unconscious, lifeless and just see everybody crying and freaking out," Cybulski said. "I mean, it's definitely tough to see."

The Buffalo firefighter jumped into action while vacationing 1,000 miles from home.

"You're used to the nonstop chaotic scene just out of no where," he said. "But I never had any idea that I would be in a situation like that, much less at Disney World."

Cybulski says it happened Sunday night around 8 p.m. while he was at the pool bar watching the Sabres game. His girlfriend, Crystal Loschiavo, suddenly screamed for help.

"He was lifeless. He was blue. And it was just very traumatic," she recalled. "I picture him just laying there and watching the doctor doing the compressions and seeing the fluid coming out of his mouth....I can see it still."

Loschiavo, a mother of two, had been watching her children in the pool when the boy from Missouri fell underwater.

"Just very shocked....I wish there was a way we could have helped him more," she said.

Disney released a statement saying they were saddened by the boy's death, noting they've reached out to his family during this difficult time. It's been difficult for Cybulski as well.

"That whole vacation, the trip back here, I've thought about it the whole time, but you have to think in your head that you tried to do your best and that's all that counts," he said.

There were no lifeguards on duty when the boy went under. A Disney spokesperson wouldn't comment any further than the statement.