Little lifesaver honoured for heroics at pool party
Instinct and training took over when Alexis Edall saw 3-year-old fall into backyard pool and start to sink earlier this month
Standing four feet six inches tall and weighing all of 75 pounds, Alexis Edall of Kelowna doesn’t look like your typical hero.
Her outfit of white shorts and cut-out-shoulder pink blouse and blond hair in a topknot doesn’t seem to fit the bill either.
Yet, the 10-year-old is a hero and was hailed as such Wednesday in a ceremony she dressed up for on the pool deck at the H2O Adventure + Fitness Centre.
The YMCA, which operates H2O, organized the event to recognize Alexis for saving the life of a toddler who fell into a backyard pool earlier this month.
“I don’t think of myself as a hero,” said Alexis shyly after being presented with a plaque.
“But I do feel proud of myself for doing it, and I would do it again if I had to save someone’s life.”
Alexis, who’s going into Grade 5 at Dorothea Walker Elementary School in September, was at a backyard pool party with her family and several other families.
Alexis was on a floaty in the deep end of the pool when a threeyear-old girl fell into the pool while reaching for a pink flamingo floaty near Alexis.
“She went halfway to the bottom right away, so I hopped off my floaty and swam down and got her and brought her up and to the side of the pool,” she said.
“It was instinct, really.”
The Y certainly applauds Alexis’s instinct, but also used the ceremony to point out lifesaving and water-safety skills training plays an integral part in preventing drownings and preparing people in case of crisis.
During spring break from school in March, Alexis took a Lifesaving Society aquatic camp for five days, which included swimming lessons and lifeguarding skills.
She also recently participated in the Y’s Okanagan Swims, a program funded by the Across the Lake Swim Society, which teaches water-safety skills to all Grade 3 and Grade 4 students in the Central Okanagan.
“It really was a combination of instinct and training that allowed Alexis to react quickly and save this toddler’s life,” said Y senior aquatic manager Randall Wight.
“It’s quite significant for a 10year-old.”
Everyone was doing everything right at the backyard pool party.
Small children were wearing life-jackets and adults were around and in the pool, playing with and supervising kids.
The little girl Alexis rescued had just come out of the pool, and her life-jacket was momentarily taken off just before she fatefully reached for that pink flamingo.
A firefighter heard of Alexis’s heroics in the pool and recommended the Y organize a ceremony to not only recognize the 10year-old’s actions, but also promote safe swimming and the Y’s programs.