Siblings hailed for pool rescue
Published: October 16, 2006
Six-year-old Elizabeth Gousios downplays her role in pulling a flailing 3-year-old boy out of her parent’s pool on Sept. 2.
She gave her parents a withering look Saturday morning when she and her younger brother, Zachary, 5, were called to the front at the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary District 9 Western Region annual meeting to be honored for their bravery in rescuing the boy.
On Sept. 2, there were several parents and several youngsters at the Gousios home on Elgin’s west side, with many enjoying the in-ground pool, Darlene Gousios said.
The family does have strict rules about flotation devices and having parents there if a child wants to swim. Their rule, she said, is that the child will have on a flotation device if the child isn’t a swimmer or can’t stand up in the pool’s 5-foot-deep section.
This little boy, however, kept pulling off his life vest. He fell in to the pool while trying to scoop water into a bucket.
Right after that splash came another one as Elizabeth jumped in to grab the 3-year-old around the shoulders. She kept his head above water as she swam back to the pool’s edge. That’s when Zachary grabbed the boy’s arm and tried to heave him back onto the deck. Then, the boy’s mother arrived to pull him the rest of the way out of the pool.
Elizabeth, her mother said, has been telling people not to talk about what happened.
Zachary, however, didn’t have any qualms about proclaiming his participation in the lifesaving event.
“She jumped in and got him. I pulled him out of the water,” Zachary proudly exclaimed to everyone in earshot outside the ballroom at the Chicago Marriott Schaumburg, after the award was presented.
Their parents, Darlene and Eric, didn’t tell the two youngsters on Saturday that they would be receiving the Life Saver Award — sponsored by the auxiliary’s Past District Commodores’ Association. Darlene was afraid Elizabeth would refuse to go if she found out.
Instead, she told the children they were going to see their uncle, Rick Tamraz, an auxiliary member, get an award for pulling a man out of Lake Michigan after his small plane went down in August. He was to receive his award Saturday night.
After Elizabeth and Zachary pulled the smaller boy out of the water, Darlene Gousios said she started calling everyone about what happened, including Tamraz.
The children’s uncle immediately wanted to do something to recognize what the two had done. He called another friend in the auxiliary, who then contacted the Past District Commodores’ Association.
An association representative “called me 20 minutes later, looking for information,” Tamraz said.
The U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary District 9 Western Region works with the U.S. Coast Guard to patrol area waters, including Lake Michigan and the Chain O’ Lakes. Each year, said Gordon Jaworski, the Past District Commodores’ Association likes to give the Life Saver Award to a citizen who gets involved in nonregular events by saving a life.
Jaworski, the auxiliary’s commodore, said the association does not get a candidate for the award very often.
“For two young people, this is quite a feat,” Jaworski said.
If you enjoyed this good news Subscribe to Good News Blog
Share this
To share this simply copy and paste one of the below URL's: