MANTI — A Utah mom says she’ll never treat a trip to the swimming pool the same way again.
Elizabeth Allred’s son Wylee, 7, nearly drowned last week.
"The lifeguards did their job and did it perfect, that is why he is alive,” Allred said getting very emotional.
It took a lot of courage for the mother to return to the Manti pool Thursday with her son who showed her exactly what happened and where last week when he nearly drowned.
"(I was) going down the slide and going into the deep end, that is all I really remember,” he said.
But 16-year-old Maylee Blauer remembers it all very well. She's been a lifeguard for just three weeks.
"I noticed this little boy and I had this strong feeling to keep my eye on him,” she said.
Moments later, Maylee could see a body at the bottom of the deep end of the pool. As she dove in after him, 17-year-old Jared Christensen helped pull him out of the water.
"He wasn't breathing so I gave him a rescue breath, and that is when he started breathing on his own,” Jared said.
EMTs rushed Wylee to the hospital, and he was transferred to Primary Children's Hospital and kept overnight for observation.
"I am really glad for this outcome,” Maylee said. “He's a cute kid, he really is, so I am really happy he is OK."
Thursday, Wylee returned to the pool with a big homemade card for his new friends and a simple message.
“Thanks for saving me,” Wylee told the lifeguards.
And from his mom, a debt of gratitude she said she can never repay.
"I am so proud of these lifeguards and what they did, their level of skill for being just kids is phenomenal," Allred said.
After this ordeal, the mother vows that taking the kids swimming will never be something routine.
“This is such a wake-up call and a gentle reminder that when we do go to pools to make sure that we are not letting the lifeguards be baby sitters,” she said.
Email: spenrod@deseretnews.com