What started out as a fun summer morning for one Oklahoma family enjoying a dip in a backyard swimming pool quickly turned into one mother’s “worst nightmare.”
Terrifying security camera footage shows Kingston mom Lori Keeney on Aug. 5 suffering a medical episode while wading, but tragedy was narrowly averted when her brave 10-year-old son, Gavin, jumped into action.
He had been on the porch drying off, playing with his dogs when he heard splashing and gurgling sounds, and right away knew his mom was in trouble.
The video shows him rushing up the pool ladder and diving in without hesitation. Swimming over to her, he holds Lori’s head above water and tows his gasping mom to the ladder.
Even the family dog, seemingly worried, tries to climb the ladder to help, before Lori’s dad appears and runs to her aid.
Lori said she doesn’t remember the incident at all. She never remembers her seizures, though Gavin has gotten accustomed to his mom’s medical condition. He knows to be watchful of her and help out when needed.
Upon seeing the footage, Lori was “blown away.”
“It floored me, floored me,” she told The Epoch Times. “Pride is not enough of a word for me. Proud is just not the word. I’m blown away by his actions, what he did in the pool that day.
“Gavin has grown up all his life with me having seizures. And he knows how to handle them. This was just different. This was in the pool and it was terrifying.”
It was hard for Lori to watch herself having a seizure on the video, she said, and she was “very, very hesitant” to share it with others.
She captioned: “One of my worst nightmares came to life this morning. ... I’ve shared before, I don’t like for people to witness when I have a seizure so for all my friends and family here ... it maybe rough for some to see but y'all ... LOOK AT MY BABY SAVING MY LIFE ... literally saving my life. Gavin had just got out of the pool and was on the porch and that’s when he heard me.”
It went viral. Praise for her son poured in from users on the platform.
“I was not expecting many, many more people to see that,” she said. “People have been amazing, the outpouring of love to my little boy and to me as well.”
Then, the courageous 10-year-old was even recognized by the Kingston Police Department for his actions. On Aug. 23, they presented him an award in a ceremony.
