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LEHI — Lehi Police Chief Chad Smith got another surprise Thursday after an experience last week he’ll never forget.
“Are you kidding me?” he said when he saw 3-year-old Kaden Young and his family walk into his office. “Wow. What a great surprise. Oh my gosh.”
The little boy has been asking for his hero "Grandpa Chad" ever since they met last Friday — when Smith saved Kaden’s life.
Smith was in Monticello attending a softball tournament before heading to Lake Powell when he decided to take his kids and grandkids to the pool. At the same hotel was Lonni Young and her family, who had traveled from Vernal to Monticello for a family reunion.
I looked down at him and I could see he's looking at me like, ‘Who are you and why are you kissing me?'
–Chad Smith
She and her sister-in-law had taken their kids to the pool when Young’s son, Kaden, got away from the group. Young said they searched for him for three or four minutes when a lifeguard pulled a little boy out of the pool.
“I could see the feet, and when she turned I saw the orange shorts and knew that it was my son,” she said. “His arm kind of flopped down and it was kind of like a purple, blue color. So my first thoughts were that he was dead.”
That’s when Smith’s daughter screamed to give Kaden to her father. “When I got him, his eyes were dilated,” he said. “I’ve never seen a child so far gone.”
He started CPR while walking to the edge of the pool to lay him down.
"I've never seen a baby, anybody, take in that much water," he said. "It was coming out of his nose and out of his mouth."
Smith's son, Jake, couldn't detect a pulse and Smith knew he was running out of precious seconds.
"I put my mouth totally over his mouth and nose and everything, and gave him one good puff, and I said, 'Now check,' and (Jake) said, 'Dad, we got a pulse.'"
The child started choking, then breathing.
“I looked down at him and I could see he’s looking at me like, ‘Who are you and why are you kissing me?’” laughed Smith.
Smith called himself Grandpa Chad to put Kaden at ease.
I'm no hero. I just did what others would have done. There were probably other people that could have done it. I just felt there was not enough time to waste.
–Smith
Kaden’s father rushed the boy to a waiting ambulance. Kaden was given a breathing tube at a local hospital until he was able to start breathing on his own.
Young said that Smith checked on the little boy at the hospital later that evening and then came back on Saturday. The two then took a picture together after Kaden was released from the hospital.
“Chad told us he hadn’t swum in years and he didn’t even know why he was there,” Young said. “My husband and I know why he was there.”
Smith said the day’s events are a blur. “Afterward, I was worthless for about four days,” he said. “I was emotionally spent, but it’s bringing our family closer. We have a new family. It’s amazing how the Lord works.”
Smith said he has a picture on his desk of Kaden. He said the experience has been a blessing in all of their lives. “There were some events through that whole process that I was supposed to be where I was at the time.”
During Thursday's surprise visit, Kaden told Smith, “You’re my super hero.”
“I’m no hero. I just did what others would have done” Smith said. “There were probably other people that could have done it. I just felt there was not enough time to waste.”
Email: acabrero@ksl.com and cwall@ksl.com
