Three teenage lifeguards, Kaden Ross, his sister Mckenzie, and Lily Ward, were on shift at the Pataskala Municipal pool in Ohio when they heard screams coming from the nearby South Fork Licking River. Without hesitating, the three teens ran towards the screams.
Eighteen-year-old Kaden Ross was the first to reach the river, jumping a fence and running about 150 yards before he came to a swimming hole and saw the mom. He jumped in and quickly pulled her out of the water.
Kaden told WBNS,
When I saved the mom, she then tells me ‘My son is still under there.'
The other two lifeguards had arrived on the scene, helping the mom, while Kaden and a bystander resumed the search through the incredibly murky water.
Kaden's sister, Mckenzie said of the rescue,
It was heartbreaking, because I had to hold the mom back, because she couldn't swim. She just wanted to go to her son so badly.
Kaden and the other man found the boy, but he was unresponsive. The lifeguard began CPR, with fluid coming out of the boy's mouth. First responders were quickly on the scene to continue the rescue efforts and transport the 7-year-old and his mother to the hospital where they are both expected to make a full recovery.
The teens say they don't take any credit for the rescue; they're just glad they had the right training and were in the right place at the right time to help this mother and son.
Kaden told reporters,
That creek goes on forever in those woods. It just happened to be in a spot where it was by a pool, where there were lifeguards that are trained to save people drowning — and we heard the screams. I know God put us there in the right place and the right time.
Pointing to a tattoo with the reference Joshua 1:9, Kaden went on to say,
The Lord was with me. He told me not to be afraid and to jump in and be strong.
The mom and her 7-year-old son are expected to make a full recovery, thanks to the three teenagers, bystanders, and first responders.
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