Stonington — Last Saturday afternoon borough Burgess Howard Park III was inside his art studio at the Velvet Mill on Bayview Avenue when he heard a commotion outside.

As he walked into the hallway to see what was happening, the pastry chef at the adjacent Zest bakery was calling 911 and asked him if he knew CPR. 

Park, a member of the Merchant Marine who learned CPR while serving with the Military Sealift Command in Vietnam, told her he did and stepped outside into what he called “utter chaos.”

Lying on the ground was 3-year-old Noor Akther of Mystic, who has just been pulled from the pond on the property. His parents were distraught and no one else knew CPR.

“He was dead,” Park said. “There was no breathing. No pulse.”

Park, who had performed CPR on adults in the past, had never performed it on a small child, something that required a different method.

“I did it for what seemed like an eternity,” he said.

Despite his efforts and the boy coughing up and vomiting large amounts of water, the boy would not resume breathing.

“I kept saying ‘come on kid, let’s go,’ ” Park recalled.

Park then used his mouth to suck the remaining water and vomit from the boy’s mouth and gave another breath.

“Then I felt a little whisper of a breath, then a little more,” he said. “At that point the paramedics arrived and took over.”

Police said that when the boy arrived at Lawrence + Memorial Hospital, he was crying. He was flown by Life Star helicopter to Yale-New Haven Hospital.

Park said the boy has now returned home and is expected to make a full recovery. He plans to meet with the boy and his family on Thursday.

Police Capt. Todd Olson said Wednesday that the boy’s parents lost track of him and began searching the area before finding him in the pond.

Olson said ambulance personnel told him Park was responsible for saving the boy’s life.

“I just feel very, very lucky I could help,” he said. “I did what anyone else would have done.”

j.wojtas@theday.com

Twitter: @joewojtas