Nikki Schaub

Here is our story of Micahs tumble into a water canal. On Monday August 12, 2013 around 10:30 in the morning my three kids(ages 7, 5, & 2) and I went to Hover Park to go crawdad fishing in the irrigation canal. It was about 75 degrees outside. The irrigation canal flows through one end of the park. After fishing off the grassy bank, we moved closer to the bridge where the embankment was cemented and more sloped. The water at this point was about 4-5 feet across and about 2-2.5 feet deep and slow moving. I walked my 5 yr old across the bridge. I remained on the other side as he ran back over the bridge to grab more supplies. At this point, I don’t recall hearing it, but I saw a splash at the waters edge across from me. And to my surprise, up bobs Micah (2) onto to back. He was not frantic or crying (unlike his older siblings who were screaming at the waters edge) but his eyes were big and round. I was astonished at how quickly and quietly this had happened. In this proud moment, I found myself smiling at my 2 yr old in his back float who was in the middle of irrigation canal repeating “Good job, Micah. Great back float, Bubba.” This should have been scary, right? I stepped in to retrieve him before he floated under the bridge. I then set him on the sidewalk dripping wet and he turned and headed to the bucket of crawdads. “Shouldn’t he be upset?” I thought. Nope. By the time we were walking back to the car, he was talking about his swimming in the cold water. I’m so glad he instinctively used his water survival skills and we avoided what could have been a frantic and terrifying ordeal. Thank you Judy and your wonderful staff for teaching such an important skill and providing a wonderful environment in which to learn.