For two scouts from Missouri, saving drowning women is just another day’s work.
They have already obtained their swimming and rescue certification.
The pool at the recreation center where they obtained these certifications was very different from the conditions created when a June storm dumped six inches of rain on Columbia, Missouri, without any warning, causing streams to overflow and turning flooded areas into ponds.
When 15-year-old Dominic Viet and 16-year-old Joseph Diener crossed a basketball court that had turned into a water polo field, they heard the voice of a young woman struggling to keep her head above water against the strong current.
The boys had seen the girl swimming with a friend before, but it was clear that she was drowning.
Dominic told CNN that his first reaction was to dive into the water upon seeing the situation.
“We didn’t have time to think because her head was barely visible and she was disappearing more and more with each passing moment. We didn’t consider the dangers; our priority was to save her.”
Carrying her on their shoulders, the heroes brought her back to shore, administered first aid, and quickly took her to the clinic.
The boys’ actions were hailed as heroic by Dominic’s mother, who had been trying to reach her son and was starting to worry.
She asked her husband, Dom’s father, to find out where he was, but when he arrived, he saw emergency vehicles and fire trucks that had been called to rescue the young woman.
“I imagined the worst-case scenario,” Mrs. Viet said. “I received a text message from Dominic saying, ‘I’ll be home soon, Mom. I just saved a woman’s life.'”
The two boys were honored for their bravery.
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