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8-year-old pulls drowning toddler to safety

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Sherri Bohannon
  • 917th Wing Public Affairs
BARKSDALE AFB, La. --  It was a fun-filled day among friends recently on Lake Ouachita, Ark., that nearly turned tragic if it wasn't for the courageous, extraordinarily quick thinking of an Air Force Reservists' eight-year-old daughter.

Sarah Ellingwood, daughter of Senior Master Sgt. Darren Ellingwood, followed her gut instinct and without hesitation, pulled a fellow camper's toddler son out of the water, and saved him from drowning.

"I was right in front of the water, Sarah said, "and I put on my life jacket and went in the water. He (the toddler) came back up, and then he went back down. At first, I thought he was one of the bigger kids. But something told me to go closer to see what is was."

When she got closer, Sarah said she realized "it" was small "like a baby," so she picked it up. The panicked toddler was hollering, "Daddy" as Sarah carried him against her side safely to shore to his father.

It only took her about 30 seconds to rush to his safety, and about another 10 to scoop him up and bring him back in. What is unknown is how long Avery, the struggling toddler, had been in the water before Sarah noticed him.

Avery's father, a captain stationed at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, and who wishes to remain anonymous, said the toddler had been in the water earlier for some time, and had returned to his father shivering. After warming up in his dad's lap for just a few minutes, he got up.

"The next thing I knew, I looked over and saw Sarah holding my son in the water a little ways out from the back of the boat, and he didn't have his life jacket on," Avery's father said. "He was a little shook up and was still coughing up a little bit of water when I got him."

The toddler's father said he's sure Avery may have drowned if "Sarah hadn't been there and had the sense to help him."

"I think this is an excellent example of how easily a child could drown in just a few moments, even with several responsible adults present," he said.

Amazingly enough, Sarah doesn't claim to be a "big swimmer."

"My grandpa tried to teach me...she said, but Dad (Darren) quickly jumped in and said, "She does better than she claims to do. She can dog paddle pretty good."

When asked if Sarah realized the magnitude of what she did, the proud father replied, "Not at first. She is just a big-hearted kid who normally does the right thing. It was pure instinct (for her) and the desire to help someone in need." Sergeant Ellingwood is assigned to the Air Force Reserve's 917th Wing at Barksdale.

"I cannot express how proud I am of her (Sarah) and the fact that another parent did not have to go through the pain of losing a child," Sergeant Ellingwood said. "The little boy (Avery) has a chance to grow up and enjoy life because of Sarah's selflessness." (Air Force Reserve Command News Service)