Family hero: Five-year-old boy saves his toddler cousin from drowning
Published: July 25, 2005
Accidents can happen in the blink of an eye.
Jennifer Bair says that was the most important lesson she learned after a recent incident at a friend’s pool in which her 5-year-old son became the family hero.
She and her son, Collin, were spending the lazy, hot summer afternoon of July 8 at the home of Buck and Hope Kaiser in Cope when Collin and his 3-year-old cousin, Cory, got in trouble in the deep end of the Kaiser’s pool.
Bair said the boys were on a float in the pool while the adults enjoyed some time chatting, turning away from the kids at play for just a few moments.
“I heard her (my daughter Kennerly Ann) say, ‘he’s going under,’” she said. “And when I looked over there, Cory had fallen off the float and Collin had him.”
Bair said her heart sank and she rushed to the side of the pool where her son was trying his best to hold his young cousin’s head above the water while paddling his arms to stay afloat and make it to the side of the pool.
“He was just a-treading,” she said. “When I got Cory out, he was coughing and crying.” She said she is very proud of what her son did and hopes to spread the message to parents that, “It just doesn’t take but a second. They were on a float — I was thinking they were fine.”
Collin, who has been taking swim and water safety lessons for two years, said that he and Cory got too close to the edge of the float and fell into the water.
“He (Cory) was coming up and down,” Collin said. “He was trying to swim. He was pulling me down. I grabbed him because I didn’t want him to drown.”
Bair said once the incident was over and the boys were safe, her son was a bit shaken up and surprised by his feat. Cory was too, as, although he has not had swimming lessons yet, he just got to the point where he would get in the water without his life jacket.
Cory said he is not afraid of the water, even now. “I’ve got my life jacket,” he said.
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Yamaha Floating Cooler“It scared me to death,” Bair said. “But I was so proud because you would think a 5-year-old would just be worried about getting himself out.”
Collin’s water safety instructor Gale Livingston, who contracts her services with Collin’s daycare, St. Paul’s United Methodist Church Kindergarten, and other daycares in the region, said she spends at least one whole session, regardless of a swim student’s level, on water safety.
“There are so many fatalities that can be prevented,” she said. “One story like this is worth my whole 25 years of teaching.”
Livingston said the biggest mistake a parent or adult can make while children are around water is turning away. “You don’t glance away for a few moments,” she said. “You can’t. You don’t get a second chance.”
The most important advice Livingston has to offer to parents is find a swim instructor who is certified. “A lifeguard is not a teacher,” she said. “You need a water safety instructor. I feel water safety should be a part of every lesson a child takes.”
Also, she said parents should not rely on devices such as water wings, which are blown up and placed on a child’s arms to keep them afloat, or bubbles. Instead, children should use life jackets when getting in the water; better yet, Livingston said enroll children in swim/water safety lessons as soon as possible.
What does she have to say about her young student?
“A 5-year-old can help another child. He didn’t panic. He did what he had to do. I’m proud of him because he remembered.” However, Livingston cautioned that until someone is life guard certified, they should not jump in after someone who is in trouble.
“Reach, throw, row, but don’t go,” she said.
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