Positivity: 11 Year-old, Saved at Age 2 Himself, Saves Another 2 Year-Old
Fremont boy to be honored for act
Park district giving award to 11-year-old for saving 2-year-old
Article Last Updated: 02/05/2007 02:46:52 AM PSTFREMONT — When Dennis Kay was 16 months old, family friends saved his life by snatching him from a campfire he’d accidentally fallen into.
Almost exactly 10 years later, Dennis returned the favor by pulling a 2-year-old from a shallow creek, saving his young friend from serious injury or worse. Even more, he quickly replaced the youngster’s wet clothes with his own dry ones, smartly using friends’ headbands to more tightly wrap the garments around little Troy Blevins to keep him warm.
Coincidence? The circle of life?
Jo Ann and Steve Kay, parents of the quick-thinking
11-year-old Fremont boy, credit something much more tangible for Dennis Kay’s actions: the East Bay Regional Park District’s junior lifeguard program. Started in 1994, the summer course teaches lifeguarding skills to local children ages 9 to 15.
Dennis Kay, a Boy Scout known to friends as DJ, has taken the program three consecutive years at Quarry Lakes Regional Recreation Area with his older brother, Stephen.
“After a couple of days, I called to thank the (district),” said Jo Ann Kay, a Fremont resident since 1987. “They provided a program that helped my son help a little boy.”
The incident occurred in September in Van Damme State Park in Mendocino County. The Brookvale Elementary sixth-grader was taking a walk with five other children there when Troy, then 2 years old, stepped on dirt that gave way.
Blevins fell face first into achilly creek.
The creek was shallow, Dennis said, adding that it was “only about 6 inches to a foot deep.”
But sometimes that’s all it takes for serious harm or death.
“The danger was the chill — that could have (made it) a life-endangering situation,” said Carl Blevins, Troy’s grandfather. “Yes, the water wasn’t deep and parents were nearby. But DJ didn’t panic, and he did what had to be done. He’s a hero to me. My grandson is the charm of my life, so we’re extremely grateful.”
Dennis Kay will be presented Tuesday with an award for his heroics at the East Bay Regional Park District’s board meeting in Oakland.
