FAYETTEVILLE, Ark — A teen received recognition for his bravery today after saving a drowning boy from a pool over the summer.
“It kind of hit me pretty hard once I actually realized exactly what happened. I was really kind of in shock the rest of the day,” Dillon Keller said.
14-year-old Keller was swimming at his apartment’s pool back in August of 2020 when he got out of the pool and noticed something was wrong.
“I looked over and I saw him in the water and the first thing I thought was to jump in. I yelled to the parents and then jumped in and then pulled him out,” he said.
The 4-year-old boy he pulled from the pool was unconscious but ended up being okay.
On Monday (Jan. 25) the Fayetteville Fire Department honored Keller with a certificate of meritorious service for his bravery. Captain Gregg Zelenko was one of the firefighters who responded to the call that day.
“To not think twice about jumping into the pool and going to the bottom and retrieving him from the pool, I’m guessing that instinct took over and he just basically, literally dove into action,” Zelenko said.
August wasn’t the first time Keller pulled a drowning child from the pool at Lightbearers Apartment Complex. Almost a year before this incident, Keller saw another 4-year-old boy struggling underwater, so he swam to him and pulled him from the water.
Keller says it’s shocking this happened to him not once but twice.
“When it happened the first time it made me more aware of what was happening in pools from then on and when I was back there, I was kind of looking to make sure that no one was and when I saw somebody, I just immediately went to get him out of the water,” he said.
This award would have typically been given out at a Fayetteville City Council meeting but because of Covid-19 they instead chose to honor him at Fayetteville Fire Station 7.