A little girl of 12 years old is being hailed as a hero after she was a witness to a terrifying event and then instantly took action, which ultimately resulted in the survival of a young child of four years old.
The tragedy, which took place on Sunday and had the potential to be deadly, took place on the grounds of the Spirit of Joy Lutheran Church in Buffalo, Minnesota. Rowan Sykes, age 4, was playing around with a number of other children when he ended up falling into a sewer.
Sadie Peterson, who was just 12 years old at the time, overheard them playing and cautioned them to keep their distance; yet, when they continued to play and a tragedy occurred, she rushed to help.
When the unthinkable happened, Shayna Sykes and her two sons, Nolan and Rowan, along with their mother had just attended Connection Pointe, which was using Spirit of Joy Lutheran Church, for the third time. Shayna Sykes told that this was the first time that she and her sons had attended the church.
“Stay where I can see you!” I cried after them as they ran away. She told that a few of the other mothers chuckled and said something along the lines of, “Oh, he’s with the herd; he’s OK.”
After less than five minutes had passed, her son Nolan rushed up to her side in a hurry.
She remembered him saying, “Rowan fell into a sewer,” and she had no idea what happened after that.
While Sykes was at the back of the building, a group of kids had been found in the front of the building playing with a manhole cover.
Sadie kept an eye on the children and tried to get them to stop what they were doing, but it was already too late.
Rowan was the one who ended up in the sewer. The kid, who was only four years old at the time, was struggling to remain afloat in sewage when the older girl, who was 12 years old at the time, reached down into the entrance of the open manhole and grabbed him.
She said, “Eventually I grabbed his hand and dragged him over. After that, I got him to the point where his face wasn’t underwater.”
Nolan went to find help.
When Sykes came running, she did not see her son, but she did notice a piece of Sadie’s body sticking out of the open manhole. Sykes was horrified.
“I could see half of her body in a hole and I’m seeing the worst, like my kid’s dead,” Sykes said. “When I arrived, I observed that she was holding him while his head was just barely above the water and he was struggling for air.”
Sadie was the one who managed to keep her grip on Rowan, but a man named Tim Dubois arrived on the scene quickly and was able to rescue both of the children from the manhole.
“He was covered in… I’m talking about being drowned and coated in sewage, sludge, and excrement,” Sykes said. “I simply sat on the ground, hugged him, and cried and cried.”
Rowan was taken to the hospital, where he had examinations and was later released after being found healthy.
Rowan came out of it quite alright, despite the fact that Sykes has been instructed to monitor Rowan for the next week for any indications of pneumonia, which might have been caused by aspirating feces. He has minor injuries and does not wish to discuss about the incident at this time.
The Sykes family wanted to express their gratitude to Sadie for saving the life of their little son.
Sadie, you are so extremely courageous. We are grateful that you were able to respond so swiftly and save Rowan’s life.
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