A fifth-grade boy from Covina is being credited with saving his mother’s life after she began sinking in the family’s backyard pool, too gripped by a leg cramp to keep herself above water. Raymond Chen noticed his mother, Jade Chen, struggling in the middle of the pool and, rather than trying to pull her out, pushed her toward the edge instead.
Jade Chen was flailing her arms and sinking in the middle of the pool after the cramp left her unable to move, according to sgvtribune.com. As reported by NBC Los Angeles, she said she thought she might die in that moment. Raymond made a split-second calculation about how to help her without becoming a second victim himself.
“I thought if I pulled her, I’d sink with her, so I pushed her to the edge instead,” Raymond said, per the station’s report. He later explained that he acted because he feared his mother might die before another adult could reach her. Once she was safely at the poolside, he said he felt proud and happy that she was okay.
A Swim Team Kid’s Instincts Kicked In
Raymond is a member of the Irwindale Swim Team, where he practices Monday through Thursday, the same account notes. That training appears to have shaped his instinct to avoid a direct rescue grab, a common risk when an untrained bystander tries to pull a drowning adult to safety. His mother’s ordeal unfolded quickly, with the cramp leaving her unable to move through the water on her own.
The rescue has since drawn official recognition. Raymond was praised by the City of Irwindale and the Irwindale Police Department, and the Covina-Valley Unified Board of Education moved to recognize him for the rescue as well, the outlet reported.
A Pattern Seen Beyond Covina
Raymond’s story echoes a similar case out of Kingston, Oklahoma, where 10-year-old Gavin Keeney was honored after saving his own mother from drowning in their backyard pool, according to koco.com. Keeney told the station he jumped in and got his mother back to the ladder after seeing her seize in the water, and authorities later held a ceremony to present him with a Saving a Life plaque.
Pool safety groups stress that incidents like these underscore the value of preparation as much as luck. The American Red Cross notes that 69% of young children who drown were not expected to be in or near water at the time, according to redcross.org. The organization also says four-sided isolation fencing around a pool reduces a child’s drowning risk by 83% compared with a standard three-sided property-line fence.
Lessons Help, But Supervision Still Matters
Swimming lessons can lower drowning risk, but children who have had them still need close, constant supervision in or around water, according to the CDC. The agency’s data also indicates that more than 35% of drownings among children ages 5 to 14 occur in swimming pools, with over 40% occurring in natural bodies of water. Separate CDC figures show that swimming pools account for the greatest share of unintentional drowning deaths among children ages 1 to 13, while most deaths among teens 14 to 17 happen in natural bodies of water.
For Jade Chen, the frightening moments in her own backyard pool ended because her son refused to freeze. The family’s experience, and the recognition that followed from Irwindale officials and the Covina-Valley Unified school board, has turned a private scare into a reminder for other parents about how quickly a routine swim can turn dangerous.
