Bystanders rescued an elementary school-age boy who nearly drowned in SeaTac's Angle Lake Thursday afternoon.
He was found unconscious in the swimming area of Angle Lake Park.
An out-of-area man pulled the boy from the water, said a spokesman for Kent Regional Fire Authority, which sent emergency personnel to the scene. The man's wife, who happened to be a nurse, and performed CPR on the child.
Daisy Talley was at the lake with her family, when she heard a young girl screaming for help.
“This dude just runs into the water and starts swimming really fast, picks up this little boy. Brings him back over, over there. And his wife just gets down and starts performing CPR on him,” Talley said.
King County Sheriff’s Office said the child was conscious and breathing when he was sent to the hospital.
Angle Lake is an L-shaped urban lake within walking distance of SeaTac airport.
The city of SeaTac said in early July that it would not be staffing lifeguards at Angle Lake.
Officials said they did not get enough qualified applications. SeaTac Parks Director Lawrence Ellis said they received 10 total applications, but only three were qualified and had worked for them in the past.
Ellis said they need about five lifeguards on any given day at Angle Lake during the summer, so hiring only three people would have meant they’d be understaffed. Consciously understaffing the lifeguard team could be a major liability for the city, so Ellis said that instead, they opted to put up signs warning people that they would be swimming at their own risk.
Ellis said people can go to a YMCA or local swim club to become certified as a lifeguard.
Julie Bowers parked her lawn chair right next to the empty lifeguard seat, so she could see her great niece and great nephews.
“If you don’t watch your children and keep an eye on them, then you’ll – you run that risk every time. Even if you have a lifeguard here, you still run that risk,” she said.
Bowers said that the lake poses a challenge, especially for children, who don’t realize that while they can wade out to the dock in water that is 5-6 feet deep, there is a steep drop-off.
Angle Lake is an L-shaped urban lake within walking distance of SeaTac airport.
The City of SeaTac said in early July that it would not be staffing lifeguards at Angle Lake.
Officials said they did not get enough qualified applications.
Cox Media Group
