A day at the beach turned out to be anything but ordinary recently for a 9-year-old Niles boy and his family.
The youth, Kole Salinas, had been swimming in Lake Michigan with his brother, Logan, 10, at Bridgman’s Warren Dunes State Park on Memorial Day and was wading in knee-deep water when a 12-year-old boy wading nearby suddenly collapsed.
“I was scared,’’ said Kole, who nevertheless raced over to the heavier, taller youth and lifted him out of the water.
Liz Kilcoyne, who has legal guardianship of Kole and Logan with her husband, Larry, said Kole was “carrying him out like a baby’’ when he got the attention of family members. Larry Kilcoyne said he ran to assist as did his daughter, Angel, 25, and her boyfriend, Shawn Rhodes, also 25.
“I was looking off somewhere when I heard him say, ‘Daddy, help, Daddy, help.’ He was holding him out of the water,’’ Kilcoyne said.
He said Kole passed the victim to Rhodes who in turn handed him to Kilcoyne. Unable to find a pulse, Kilcoyne said he began CPR but was unable to revive him.
Two nurses also visiting the beach that day soon took over. Shortly afterward, a park staff member arrived with a defibrillator and restored the youth’s heartbeat on the second of two attempts, Kilcoyne said.
Eventually, the victim, who reportedly is handicapped and may have collapsed from a medical condition, was airlifted to an area hospital. He’s no longer a patient and apparently has fully recovered.
Kole guessed that the boy’s face had been underwater only about three or four seconds before Kole lifted him to the surface. He was glad, Kole said, that the water was shallow where the boy collapsed.
“If it was deeper, I probably wouldn’t have been able to get him out,’’ he said.
Kole just completed third grade at Ballard Elementary School in Niles and, like his brother, is in his fourth year as a member of Niles Cub Scout Pack 587. Kilcoyne, the assistant scoutmaster for the pack, said he has recommended Kole for a life-saving award.
Kilcoyne said Kole has several swimming awards to his credit but has never taken a lifesaving class. On Friday, Kole took it all in stride, playing a video game with Logan as the Kilcoynes talked about his heroics.
“Me and him (Kole) swim in 12 feet of water,’’ Logan proudly proclaimed.
But wasn’t the water cold that day? The brothers disagreed, with Kole going so far as to call it warm.
Maybe he was referring to the feeling he had inside.
story by Lou Mumford (South Bend (IN) Tribune online version of story) June 13, 2011
http://www.southbendtribune.com/sbt-niles-scout-aids-youth-in-distress-20110612,0,3368807.story
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