Third-grader applauded for her role in water rescue

Published 1:43 pm Thursday, December 11, 2008

By Brenda Sexton, The Courier-Herald

Enumclaw 9-year-old Emily Meeks and her family had just pulled into the recreation vehicle campground at Crystal Mountain Feb. 13. Anxious to play, Meeks and her siblings took off for the snow-covered hillside and icy creek that run behind the camping area.

"I saw a girl across the creek and asked her who was screaming, and she pointed at her little brother," Meeks said. The 4-year-old boy was grasping onto an exposed tree root while the chilling water rushed around him.

"She said she was going to go in and could I help her," Meeks recalls. "I said no, but I would get her help."

Meeks went to the campground and brought back her stepfather, Mike Cary, who helped the freezing boy to safety. Meeks' mother, Cindy Cary, said the boy had been in the water long enough that his boots had been sucked off and were swirling around him. She said he was struggling to hold on. The water, she said, formed an eddy behind a fallen log and was about 7-feet deep.

The family credits the lessons Meeks' learned in local swim classes for saving the young boy's life and preventing further tragedy.

"That was the first thing she said," Cindy Cary said. "That's what they taught me.'"

The Enumclaw Pool staff is very proud of Meeks and her parents.

Tracy Alexander, aquatics and recreational supervisor for the city of Enumclaw, said it is every swim instructors' goal to teach swimmers, young and old, the importance of proper lifesaving.

"It's reach, throw, but don't go," Alexander said. "You even teach that to lifeguards."

Alexander explained student swimmers are taught to "reach" for a victim with a pole, branch or, if necessary, an extended arm, but only if they are laying on their stomach, not standing where a victim could easily pull them off balance and into the water. The second option is to throw a life preserver or other floatation device until more help can arrive. The final lesson is "don't go." Alexander said too often victims will pull rescuers down with them. The best thing to do, Alexander said, is exactly what Emily did - look forward and side to find landmarks to help relocate the victim and get help.

"Everybody needs to learn about water safety, it does save lives," Alexander said. "It doesn't matter what age."

Alexander added that the Enumclaw School District is one of the few districts to still offer swimming programs through the schools.

Each year, Enumclaw elementary students receive two weeks of swim lessons at no additional cost to parents.

For her age, Meeks is an accomplished swimmer, taking additional swim lessons outside of school. She is also a former member of the Plateau's youth swim team.

"We're boaters so we know the importance of swim lessons," Cindy Cary said. "We're thankful to the system, it's working."

Meeks was honored by her third-grade teacher Lynne Hieronymus with a hero's award at a Sunrise Elementary School assembly Friday.

Brenda Sexton can be reached at bsexton@cmg-northwest2.go-vip.net/courierherald