GALVESTON — Not everything that little boys learn from TV leads to trouble. In Zach Smothers’ case, it saved a life.

Smothers was at his 12th birthday party on Aug. 23, swimming in the pool while his dad grilled hamburgers, when he saw his 3-year-old cousin sinking like a rock toward the bottom of the pool.

No one else noticed that the little girl, Gianna, had gone underwater and stopped breathing after she stumbled into the pool at the Elks Lodge, 1518 23rd St.

Smothers swam over, lifted her up and pulled her out of the water, he said. Then, he pumped her chest and said a dark liquid came out of the girl’s blue lips.

“I just watched it on TV how they do it,” he said. “I did it, and it worked.”

Only afterward did he scream for help, he said.

Smothers’ father, William Smothers, said most of the adults were sitting and eating when his son started screaming. They looked over and saw him with the little girl.

His cousin’s family rushed over and shuttled her away to a hospital, where she stayed for three days while doctors made sure the water drained from her lungs.

She was later released from the hospital without any complications, William Smothers said.

Zach Smothers said helping save Gianna was a better birthday present than his Houston Astros baseball gear or barbecue pit that he got from his family.

“She’s my cousin, and I love her,” Smothers said. “I just saved her, I guess. It was a big surprise for me.”