A 10-year-old boy saved his mother suffering from a potentially fatal epileptic fit when she was struck by a seizure in the family’s backyard pool.
Gavin Keeney, from Oklahoma, was seen on footage from a home surveillance camera diving into the pool to help his drowning mother Lori Keeney.
She told Good Morning America that they had been having a “wonderful morning” when they decided to go for a swim.
Ms Keeney said Gavin “had just gotten out of the pool and I just went into a seizure”.
“It scared me more than I’ve ever been scared,” she added.
Gavin was on the back porch when he heard the water splash. He looked over and saw Ms Keeney “sinking in the pool”.
He leapt into the waters and carried Ms Keeny to the ladder out of the pool, holding her head above the surface for over a minute before his grandfather stepped in to help.
“I was scared a little bit,” the 10-year-old told Good Morning America. He later received an award from the Kingston Police Department.
“He’s definitely my hero,” Ms Keeney told the programme. “But I really do feel like he’s my guardian angel, as well.”
The incident took place on 5 August in Enos, Oklahoma.
“I was told later that he never asked for help. My dad, who lives next door, heard the dogs barking and he ran out and jumped in as Gavin held me on the ladder and kept my head above water,” Ms Keeney told Storyful.
“Gavin stepped back and you can see the moment he got to be a little boy again,” she added. “My Dad then pulls us into a group hug. It was one of the scariest moments of my life.”
“He’s been through so much with me and my health and he handles it with such grace and maturity,” she said.
