Heroic Scare

Today, we had a little bit more excitement at the pool than I would like to have again.

We had Riley's good friend, Terry, come spend some of the day with us. Terry is Riley's only good friend here, and unfortunately he lives in Salina. 30 minutes north of here. His mom doesn't speak English, but his family works here in McPherson, which is why he goes to Riley's school. Before school was out, I wrote a letter to Terry's family with hopes that while they worked during the summer, Terry could come here during the day. So, I have been communicating via text with Terry's brother, and have arranged as many play dates as I have been able to for Riley's sake.

Terry loves going to the pool, and we have gone to the pool each time he's been here. We had no issues each time, so my guard was caught down. About 30 minutes in to our time at the pool, I was reading a book, and I heard the dreaded long whistle from the lifeguards. The short whistle just means a kid is jumping in wrong or running on the sidewalk, but the long whistle means a guard is jumping in. I quickly sat up, and I only saw two struggling heads bobbing in and out of the water. I knew, only as a mother would, it was MY kid and Terry. It all felt like slow motion at that point. I was up and walking closer to the boys, but I just wasn't panicked. Yes, it felt like the longest time before the guards swam to the boys, but I had complete trust that everyone was okay and the guards would get there. I couldn't, however, tell who was helping who...

Riley has become quite the fish this year in the pool, and deep down I didn't think he would have gotten to where he couldn't stay up, but I still wasn't sure. Turns out, Terry wanted to go to the deep end and swim to shallow end. Riley has done this several times, so Riley went with him, but after a while Terry got tired, and yelled that he needed Riley's help. So, Riley went to help.... however, Riley is a small 67 pound boy, and obviously not trained to save a larger boy, who has his arms and legs flailing everywhere. Enter the lifeguards. I know they were ready. I have never been more impressed with lifeguards at any pool. They are the most attentive kids I've ever seen in their position. I've seen them pull more kids to safety, and their reaction time is amazing. I watched a small girl get behind her dad just the other day, and before the girl was submerged under water the lifeguard was in the water and it got dad's attention, so it will always amaze me how lifeguards function in the hot temps and never lose focus.

Of course, both boys got saved, and they were both great. Terry jumped right back in, but I had to pull him back out so the manager could take some information down. The manager told Riley he did good, and that he should be a lifeguard when he grows up. That left a HUGE smile on Riley's face. I asked Riley, later on, if he was scared or swallowed water while trying to save Terry, and he said no to the water, but he got spooked once he realized he couldn't keep above the water either. He couldn't yell for help either, because he didn't have enough time each time he came up for breath. By the end of this day, my guard will be back up, especially when I have other kids who I apparently don't know their swimming capabilities in my care. I failed there today. Thankfully, I have a Riley to protect us!