Estimated read time: Less than a minute
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
Last night my 4-year-old son and I were feeding ducks at the park. He got too close to the edge, threw the bread too enthusiastically and SPLASH! In he went. His head had just gone under when I grabbed his leg and yanked him out. He was barely coughing and sputtering; it was over in such a short moment. To him it was an adventure but I can't help but still feel shaken about it. I think it's because we have had such a scary summer so far. Kids have drowned, been poisoned, electrocuted, run over, and more. Each time it seems it has only taken a split second. I feel kind of foolish that my son fell into the pond while I was right beside him. I have done stories so many times about "Officials warn parents to always watch their kids." "It can only take an instant." "Summer is a dangerous time." Etc, etc. But I am very glad it was just a dunking in dirty water, and not something so much worse.
