Girl rescued from East Side Lake
Published 12:00 am Wednesday, June 19, 2002
That he didn't know how to swim well didn't stop 10-year-old Jarred Salisbury from saving a 7-year-old girl who had fallen into East Side Lake.
All he thought about was helping Cheyenne Miller.
Salisbury was fishing near the dam on 13th St. NE with his aunt when he saw Miller fall into the lake June 7. He ran around the fence that blocked the water, hung on to the fence and pulled her out.
"I think he just responded the best he could," said his grandfather Jerry Salisbury, who said Jarred only knows how to doggy-paddle. "I don't think he was planning on jumping in."
Jarred and his aunt brought the sopping wet Miller back to her home about a block away. Sheila Miller, her mother, had been looking for Cheyenne and was relieved to see her.
"I was bawling my head off and I gave (Jarred) a big old hug," Sheila said.
Sheila had told Cheyenne never to go by the lake without an adult. Cheyenne went to the lake anyway and walked around the fence and onto the cement at the water's edge. Then she fell in.
Cheyenne said didn't comprehend what had happened to her.
"I was not scared," Cheyenne said. "I didn't know that I fell in."
She doesn't remember going under the water, but told her mother that after falling she looked up and everything seemed white.
"It all happened too quickly for her to even realize it," Sheila said.
Sheila took Jarred to McDonald's and Dairy Queen as a thank you, although she said it isn't enough.
"I know taking him out for lunch and ice cream isn't anything to repay him," Sheila said.
Jarred is not sure what to think of the attention he has gotten for rescuing Cheyenne. He doesn't think he's a hero. And he doesn't think it's a big deal.
Sheila and Jerry disagree.
"I feel it's something that should be recognized," Jerry said.
Sheila said it will show other children to reconsider dangerous activities.
"It's a good thing to have publicized to warn the younger kids and to show them what happens when they don't do what they're supposed to do," she said.
On Tuesday Sheila said she had just signed Cheyenne up for swimming lessons. Asked whether she thought Cheyenne would go back to the lake alone, Sheila responded: "No, she will not. She knows better now."
Cari Quam can be reached at 434-2235 or by e-mail at cari.quam@austindailyherald.com