It seems like, anymore, everything on the news is nothing but bad…but every once in a while, a light shines on a story with a great ending.
On May 18, little Xavier Rigney bolted out of the apartment where he lives with his mother, Alexis Rigney, and his 4-month-old sister in Lawrence KS, made his way into the fenced-in pool at the complex and jumped into the deep end.
As the terrified boy flailed helplessly underwater, 12-year-old Maddox Westerhaus ran to get his dad.
His dad, Tom Westerhaus, a former lifeguard, rushed over, jumped the locked pool area and plucked the then-unresponsive boy out of the water as fast as he could Then, using the training he'd received 15 years ago as a lifeguard, Tom began performing chest compressions on the boy, saving his life.
We talked to Tom this morning, and he is every bit the humble hero.