‘They’re heroes’: Teen lifeguards rescue 7-year-old
HASTINGS, Mich. (WOOD) – Three teen lifeguards in Hastings are being hailed as heroes, credited with saving a young boy’s life Friday night at the community center pool.
The pool was packed with nearly a hundred people when one of the lifeguards noticed something was wrong. A young boy had gone under the water and was not moving.
Allyn was closest to the boy and dove in, pulling the child upward.”I think my heart sank a little for a moment, and then it just got ready to do what I had to do,” Zach Allyn, a high school senior, said.
“He was completely motionless. Unconscious. He wasn’t awake. He didn’t not look like he was going to wake up,” Allyn said.
Co-lifeguard Alex Beauchamp rushed to the water’s edge to help pull the boy out.
“I didn’t feel anything. The pulse was so faint,” Beauchamp said of the boy.
Beauchamp grabbed an AED and the pair started performing CPR. Suddenly, after several minutes, there were signs of life.
“He starts really throwing up. Then we get him on his side and he starts puking everything up. Zach’s clearing everything out of his mouth and I’m patting him on the back. Then he started moaning and making noises,” Beauchamp said.
Grace Beauchamp, Alex’s sister and fellow lifeguard, flagged down the incoming ambulance and EMTs took over from there.
“I have no doubt in my mind that if they hadn’t been there, he wouldn’t been here,” Angela Seaman of Marcellus said.Monday, after initial treatment at Spectrum Pennock Hospital in Hastings and a transfer to Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital, the little boy, 7-year-old Connor Seaman, was doing well. His mom credited the teens for saving her son’s life.
Seaman said her son is a good swimmer and they don’t know exactly what went wrong – but what matters now is that he’s OK. Connor is still battling a cough and his mom is keeping an eye out for signs of possible infection or pneumonia. But there’s no permanent lung damage and doctors have been amazed by his rapid recovery.
Seaman got to thank the young lifeguards. It was an emotional, tearful meeting at the hospital when the students went to check on Connor.
“I can’t even say thank you enough to them. They’re heroes. Whether they admit it or not, they’re heroes,” Seaman said.
“It was just an amazing feeling to see that kind of impact we had on someone’s life,” Grace Beauchamp said.
“It just kind of warms my heart. I’m just happy the boy’s OK,” Allyn added.
As for the label of hero? The humble teenagers don’t see it that way:
“I like to see it as me and my other lifeguards, we got our job done. And it’s something that is necessary. I don’t know if I’d call myself a hero, but I’m happy that I was able to help a family,” Allyn said.