Trending Topics

Off-duty EMT honored for saving drowning boy at lake

She heard yelling and performed CPR on a 3-year-old in the water; the 20-year-veteran was at the beach at the right time thanks to her son

The News Gazette

MONTICELLO, Ill. — Crystal Alexander was definitely the right person in the right place at the right time when she helped rescue a drowning boy at Clinton Lake this summer.

The 20-year emergency medical technician was at the beach only at the insistence of her son Ethan, who kept “bugging me” to go have a little fun in the sand and splash in the lake.

She was there for leisure, but her training kicked in shortly after 4 p.m. on July 27 when someone called for help. Three-year-old Nathaniel Stanford was in trouble, drowning in the waters around the beach.

Read full story: Off-duty EMT honored for saving boy at Clinton Lake